GYANENDRA'S BLOODY TRAIL IN INDIA

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Nepal King leaves bloody trail behind

SAMUDRA GUPTA KASHYAP & SABYASACHI BANDOPADHYAY

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Posted

online: Friday, June 28, 2002 at 0000 hours IST

 

*GUWAHATI, KOLKATA, JUNE 27: *Unmoved by howls of protest from animal

rights activists, Nepal King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah today invoked Shakti

the way its been done for centuries at the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati,

turning over animals for sacrifice at the altar of the goddess. Perhaps the

only break in tradition was that the Panch Bali — of a buffalo, goat, sheep,

duck and pigeon — was carried out after he left the premises.

 

Animal rights groups, who maintain it doesn't behove a modern head of state

to participate in an ancient ritual soaked in blood, will have more reason

to be upset if the King, who is to visit the Kalighat temple in Kolkata

tomorrow, goes for another round of sacrifice for which arrangements are

being made.

 

[image: Advertisement] ''I have been asked by a Nepal consulate official

to arrange for goats for sacrifice,'' Kamal Mukherjee, the 74-year-old

official priest of the Nepal king, said. ''I was told the King may opt for

the sacrifice and we should be prepared.''

 

Royal participation in a ritual totally out of sync has infuriated not just

animal rights groups but has caused distress all around. In New Delhi,

acclaimed Assamese writer and Jnanpith Award winner Indira Goswami slammed

the act, saying Assam had now nothing to cheer about the royal visit. ''It

has upset everyone. There were hopes he would leave a permanent mark but

what happened is not acceptable,'' Goswami said.

 

Around the time the police in Guwahati was scattering groups which tried to

protest at the foot of the Nilachal hills — it is here the Kamakhya shrine

is located — Kolkata was trying to check on plans for another round of

sacrifice.

 

Debashish Chakrabarthy, managing trustee of People for Animals, said, ''We

have been checking with the police and the temple authorities on whether the

King plans to go ahead with animal sacrifice. They have denied any such

move. As head of a state, the King should not participate in such an ancient

practice.''

 

Kamakhya and Kalighat, both Shakti shrines, share the centuries-old practice

of animal sacrifice, a daily ritual, to appease the goddess. ''We have not

been informed before by the police or the consulate, but if the King wants a

sacrifice to be performed here, we will definitely arrange it,'' Arun Kumar

Mukherjee, secretary, Kalighat Temple Committee, said. The temple receives

Rs 2,000 a month as an honorarium from the royal family.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

To give up that which we hold dear - this is the real meaning of sacrifice

in the

religious traditions of both East and West (or should I say Middle-East?).

 

Butchering an inncocent bunch of terrified animals is ridiculous in the

extreme.

 

While the rationalist in Mr. Shubroto Ghosh may be upset at my statement, I

am

convinced that all the troubles for the Kings of Nepal is due to their cruel

participation and perpetuation of this barbaric practice. Any God that needs

blood shed to provide its blessings is a god not worth believing in.

As an incarnation of Vishnu as the Kings of Nepal arrogantly believe they

are,

it is even more imperative that they live upto the concept of Vishnu as the

Protector of life (Brahma being the Creator and Shiva the Destroyer).

And if the Kings believe in the Hindu philosophy, they must surely know that

there is an inexorable law of action and reaction under which cruelty begets

more

cruelty and suffering.

 

The only good thing that has come out of the recent political turmoil in

Nepal

is the declaration that Nepal is no longer a " Hindu " state since it made

Hindus like me cringe to be considered one with people like Gyanendra.

 

S. Chinny Krishna

 

 

 

 

 

[journalistandanimals]

Friday, September 22, 2006 10:23 AM

aapn

GYANENDRA'S BLOODY TRAIL IN INDIA

 

 

http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id=5079

Nepal King leaves bloody trail behind

SAMUDRA GUPTA KASHYAP & SABYASACHI BANDOPADHYAY

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Posted

online: Friday, June 28, 2002 at 0000 hours IST

 

*GUWAHATI, KOLKATA, JUNE 27: *Unmoved by howls of protest from animal

rights activists, Nepal King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah today invoked Shakti

the way its been done for centuries at the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati,

turning over animals for sacrifice at the altar of the goddess. Perhaps the

only break in tradition was that the Panch Bali — of a buffalo, goat, sheep,

duck and pigeon — was carried out after he left the premises.

 

Animal rights groups, who maintain it doesn't behove a modern head of state

to participate in an ancient ritual soaked in blood, will have more reason

to be upset if the King, who is to visit the Kalighat temple in Kolkata

tomorrow, goes for another round of sacrifice for which arrangements are

being made.

 

[image: Advertisement] ''I have been asked by a Nepal consulate official

to arrange for goats for sacrifice,'' Kamal Mukherjee, the 74-year-old

official priest of the Nepal king, said. ''I was told the King may opt for

the sacrifice and we should be prepared.''

 

Royal participation in a ritual totally out of sync has infuriated not just

animal rights groups but has caused distress all around. In New Delhi,

acclaimed Assamese writer and Jnanpith Award winner Indira Goswami slammed

the act, saying Assam had now nothing to cheer about the royal visit. ''It

has upset everyone. There were hopes he would leave a permanent mark but

what happened is not acceptable,'' Goswami said.

 

Around the time the police in Guwahati was scattering groups which tried to

protest at the foot of the Nilachal hills — it is here the Kamakhya shrine

is located — Kolkata was trying to check on plans for another round of

sacrifice.

 

Debashish Chakrabarthy, managing trustee of People for Animals, said, ''We

have been checking with the police and the temple authorities on whether the

King plans to go ahead with animal sacrifice. They have denied any such

move. As head of a state, the King should not participate in such an ancient

practice.''

 

Kamakhya and Kalighat, both Shakti shrines, share the centuries-old practice

of animal sacrifice, a daily ritual, to appease the goddess. ''We have not

been informed before by the police or the consulate, but if the King wants a

sacrifice to be performed here, we will definitely arrange it,'' Arun Kumar

Mukherjee, secretary, Kalighat Temple Committee, said. The temple receives

Rs 2,000 a month as an honorarium from the royal family.