NP: Maneka Gandhi speaks out against Gadhimai killings

[Guest guest]

*FYI The Kathmandu Post today followed up with a very supportive editorial

titled Stop It - read it at *

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2009/11/04/Editorial/Stop-it/1705/in\

dex.html

 

*Abandon Gadhimai killings*

 

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2009/11/03/Oped/Abandon-Gadhimai-kil\

lings/1682/index.html

 

 

by Maneka Gandhi

 

NOV 03 - As a friend and neighbour of Nepal , as one who knows and respects

her people , I beg all of you to abandon the killing of animals at the

Gadhimai festival later this month.

 

Gadhimai Mela takes place every five years in Bariyarpur, Bara district and

is scheduled for Nov. 24. The word fair should mean something joyful. An

event you take your children to. An occasion where you show your family and

world love and get love in return.

 

But the Gadhimai fair looms in front of us like an evil spectre, its

blackness enveloping the subcontinent. Who is looking forward to it?

Professional priests who will earn a lot of money from hides and dead

bodies, cattle traders who are even as I write, smuggle animals from India

to Nepal to be killed, scrupulous business people and alcohol sellers. The

mela is being publicised all over the world as evidence of a violent

barbaric past.

 

The organisers have announced that they are going to aim for a world record

— the largest number of killings of animals. In 48 hours, 500,000 animals

will be butchered — more than one every second. How amazing that a nation of

such gentle people would want to hold a record like that. The animals’

blood will sink into the ground making acres into a bloody marsh in which

people stand, the stink will spread for miles and stay for months, the

animals will run and shriek, the clothes of women and children will be

splattered with blood…. if there is hell on earth, it will be seen at

Gadhimai in all its nakedness.

 

The Goddess Gadhimai has not asked to be dishonoured in this way nor does

she want to be seen as the Goddess of Suffering. She will be covered with

the faeces, urine and blood of scared buffaloes, chicken, goats, sheep,

pigs, rats, rabbits, pigeons. The ritual will include the killing of 20,000

young he buffaloes who are so important to the agricultural economy that

their loss will be felt for decades and their death will drive the price of

the living ones up by 500 percent.

 

Gadhimai caters mostly to Indians. The animals are brought in illegally

from India and most of the visitors to the mela will be Indians stealing

across the borders. How sad that Nepal should organise such an event, when

most animal sacrifices in India have been banned and the rest are under

siege every year.

 

This is not a religious mela. The buffaloes and goats have already been

kicked and beaten on their way to the border. The deals have been made with

the butchers and the trucks have been commissioned to take away the fresh

meat and bones. The skins have already been sold to the contractors of

Chennai and Kolkata who will turn these “offerings” into shoes. Contracts

have been given to the alcohol sellers, the flower dealers, the food stalls.

The Goddess Gadhimai has been degraded into a leather and meat seller.

Hiding under the blanket of god-propitiation, the mela is being run by the

animal skin/bone/meat coalition.

 

Gadhimai is typical of all animal sacrifices which are now propelled by

commercial interests. The economics go like this:

 

In the olden days, the village priest was fed and looked after by the

village. The priest made his extra income from the donations offered to the

idol in the form of money, flowers and fruit. The offerings have not changed

over time but the village no longer supports the priest. To make ends meet,

he encourages flower and food shops to be set up near the temples so that

the fruit and flowers can be sold back and recycled several times. But these

shops function only on festival days so the priest is not assured of a daily

income. He then forms an unholy triumvirate with the moneylender and the

butcher. What happens next?

 

The priest has a ‘vision’ in which the Devi says that some calamitous event

will take place if animals are not brought to her. This superstition is

assiduously spread. The priest is full of stories about villages in which

terrible things happened because animals were not sacrificed.

 

The villagers borrow from the moneylender to buy animals, which are

sacrificed. Land, goods or part of the harvest are pledged in exchange for

this money. A portion of the animal sacrificed is given to the priest and he

sells this to the butcher. The illegal liquor trade benefits as the

sacrifice is accompanied by consumption of alcohol next to the temple. If

the predicted event does not take place it is because of the sacrifice; if

it does, then the sacrifice has been inadequate and the number of animals

should be increased.

 

Very soon this becomes part of village “tradition”. The priest and the

moneylender encourage this because it increases their revenue. The indebted

villager becomes poorer. Studies show that animal sacrifice causes a large

percentage of rural bankruptcy. The land finds its way back to the large

landowners and the farmer becomes a daily wager.

 

Not only do the economics of the village go awry but it puts power back into

the hands of a feudal semi royalty which uses superstition as its weapon.

All the sacrifices in India are controlled by the ex-royalty who lead and

encourage the killing with the help of their allied moneylenders. During

elections, this nexus influences the voting patterns as the villagers are

now in debt. Animal sacrifice is also used to make and strengthen caste

divisions creating more social tensions. This sacrifice causes both economic

and social damage.

 

This sacrifice is an attack on women. Male gods are austere, benign,

generous and peaceful. The Goddess is blood-thirsty, violent and cruel and

can only be controlled by blood. Women are potentially evil, according to

this belief, and must be kept under control. They are frightening, both in

appearance and behaviour. This image was created to justify the suppression

of women. Surely the mother who procreates and nurtures deserves a better

reputation? Supporting animal sacrifice is supporting both gender inequity

and perpetuating myths about the evil that is woman.

 

Some customs and traditions deserve to die out. Examples abound throughout

history: slavery, public executions, witch burning, racism, sati, thuggee,

human sacrifice, the segregation of women and Dalits from temples. The human

animal is an infinitely adaptable organism. The loss of the customs listed

above has not resulted in any harm to humankind. The same can be confidently

predicted for the elimination of this terrible animal sacrifice. Sacrifice

has nothing to do with Hinduism which is the kindest, gentlest religion

possible with its link to all creatures of the earth.

 

In the words of Indian scientist Dr Krishna: “Animal sacrifice is cruel,

disgusting and primitive. Bloody sacrifices brutalise the viewer, confusing

the distinction between right and wrong. If one man supports animal

sacrifice, another will support human sacrifice, the killing of children and

women. How can any of these be permitted in a civilised society? All

cultures and religions evolve, discarding ugly practices. Animal sacrifice

must be rejected and discarded as a natural evolution of human consciousness

“

 

Religion should be value-based and ennobling. Sacrifice is neither: It is

cruel and disgusting. It makes us look small and vicious and illiterate. I

have written to your honourable president, prime minister and several

ministers — as have hundreds of people across the world. But ultimately

the decision will lie with all of you. What kind of image does the New Nepal

want to project to the world?

 

*(Maneka Gandhi is an Indian politician, animal rights activist,

environmentalist and former journalist)*

 

--

Lucia de Vries

Freelance Journalist

Nepal - Netherlands