Guest guest Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 >> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7052543.stm >> Revulsion over Nepal animal slaughter >> By Charles Haviland >> BBC News, Kathmandu >> >> A goat offering is a holy act for Hindu devotees >> The people of Nepal are celebrating their biggest national festival, Dashain. >> >> The 15-day annual religious feast marks the victory of the Hindu >> goddess Durga over a feared demon and symbolises the triumph of good >> over evil. >> >> There are a wealth of rites in the goddess's name, and sacred grass is >> being grown in special pots all over the country to be used as a >> blessing this Sunday, the 10th and most important festival day. >> >> Every Hindu home has been cleaned and decorated to welcome the goddess. >> The markets have been heaving as shoppers seek out new clothes and >> foodstuffs, and many thousands are returning to their home villages >> from the cities and from foreign countries to spend time with their >> families. >> >> Mass slaughter >> >> But increasingly voices are being heard questioning what takes place on >> its eighth and ninth days - this Friday and Saturday - when hundreds of >> thousands of animals are ritually slaughtered as a sacrifice for Durga. >> >> The Dashain festival is a time of great merriment >> >> Visible in the Kathmandu traffic among all the shoppers are youths >> walking with herds of goats; motorbikes with live chickens dangling >> from the sides; and trucks crammed with buffaloes arriving from India. >> >> On Friday and Saturday, and especially during the night in between, >> known as " Kal Ratri " or the " Dark Night " , thousands of these animals as >> well as sheep and ducks will be slaughtered across the nation. >> >> Animals are killed in the smallest villages or in cities like >> Kathmandu, where the courtyard of the Taleju Temple, opened just once a >> year, will end up flowing with blood. >> >> It will yield a feast of meat. But it is also said to have a religious >> meaning - the killing being a sacrifice to honour the goddess and >> prevent her anger in the year ahead. >> >> The new dissenters are questioning both the scale and the methods of >> the killing. >> >> An article in the Nepali Times weekly says most buffaloes, like smaller >> animals, are decapitated but the bigger ones are battered to death with >> a heavy hammer on the forehead. >> >> 'Such cruelty' >> >> A respected botanist, Dr Tirtha Shrestha - writing in the same paper - >> says that in Bhaktapur, near Kathmandu, pigs are skinned alive and >> their beating hearts offered to the temple, while in a nearby village >> people tear apart a live goat. >> >> He asks what kind of people take pleasure in such cruelty, even >> suggesting that a society which treats animals so brutally will be >> brutal to human beings too. >> >> " Decapitating a bleating buffalo or goat should not be the symbol of >> the Nepali civilisation, " he says. " Why are we exhibiting such cruelty, >> and how does this reflect on our society? " >> >> The festival is a time when families get together >> >> Dr Shrestha accepts that to eat meat, animals must be killed. >> >> " But why do we have to inflict such pain before we do so? This is not >> just inhuman, it is also against the law in many countries. It is >> morally wrong to torture fellow creatures under any circumstances, but >> to do so in the name of religion is a sin. " >> >> Another Nepali man, Arun Poudel, sending a mass email, picks up on this >> last theme. >> >> Animal sacrifices >> >> He says people should stop killing animals in the name of Hinduism's >> respected goddesses and gods. >> >> " Maybe the deities will start wanting human blood soon, " he muses >> grimly. >> >> Such sentiments are spreading. Although animal rights are not a major >> concern in Nepal, an animal protection group recently held a rally in >> the capital against the yearly tradition of animal sacrifices. >> >> And, speaking to the BBC, one Nepalese journalist who has been a >> vegetarian for many years said he was delaying his visit to his village >> to avoid the killing. >> >> " I can't stand the slaughter, " he said. " If a goat is killed, I run >> away. When I was a small kid, I'd hide indoors all day or go to the >> jungle. " >> >> He believes about 1,000 animals will die in his small village in the >> hills where, he says, certain men have taken up the " hobby " of Dashain >> slaughtering and will provide the service for many households. >> >> The Kathmandu Post newspaper reports on another group of dissenters. It >> says two entire villages in Gorkha, in west-central Nepal, have shunned >> sacrifices for as long as 90 years and gone largely vegetarian as they >> believe in non-violence. >> >> At the moment, however, these voices are still few and far between. >> >> Nepal is a country where most people are too poor to eat meat regularly >> and regard it as a great treat. There is not as strong a tradition of >> vegetarianism as there is in neighbouring India, which also has a Hindu >> majority. >> >> For the time being at least, The feast-day spilling of animals' blood >> looks set to continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.