Terror of Fatwa

BY LB THAPA

Writing is not everybody’s cup of tea. It is difficult. It becomes even more difficult when someone tries to write about the truth. So, truth is always bitter.

It is so bitter that many people can’t digest it. Those who are incapable of digesting the truth, they always stand against it under the pretext of false alibis.

How difficult is writing about the truth is evident by the ever increasing incidents of abduction, torture, intimidation and sometimes even brutal murders of writers and journalists across the world. A good book may give immense satisfaction and pleasure to readers, but it is also possible that the same book can make the author(s) run for all his/her life! If this is not true then why today well known writers like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasrin live like fugitives. The lives of these two writers turned hell as soon as high ranking Muslim religious leaders issued ‘Fatwa’ (death sentence) upon them.

Salman Rushdie, born into a middle class Muslim family in Bombay, India, began writing from 1964. In his early struggling years, he wrote extensively in various Pakistani print media including radio and televisions. In later years, he lived in Iran where he wrote “Satanic Verses”. The book was published in 1989 and it was hailed all over the world. The book also won ‘Whitbread Award’ in 1988. But, then Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came upon heavily and condemned the book. He said the book expressed disapproval of the teachings of Koran, the holy book of Muslims. In a fit of pique, he issued Fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The price of his head was declared one million US dollars, which was doubled in 1997. This was really an unreasonably a harsh and ridiculous punishment for an honest and dedicated writer like Rushdie. As a result of Fatwa, his life came under immense jeopardy. Muslim religious fanatics turned mad for his blood. Much frightened Rushdie had no other option left for him but to leave Iran. He left Iran to settle down in England, under intense police protection.

Similarly, Taslima Nasrin, a female writer from Bangladesh has got a similar story to tell about. She was born into a small village called Maimansing, Bangladesh.

She was a very bright student right from her early school days. She had completed her MBBS degree at the age of just 22. Along with her medical practice, she had immensely nurtured her interest in literature. She began writing for several Bangladeshi newspapers, journals and magazines. Barely reaching at her 30s, she had already carved a niche for herself as a well-known female poet and writer in her country. She wrote her famous book Lajja (Shame). The book was published in 1993. In this book, she had presented a detailed account of cruelty meted out to Hindus by the Bangla-Muslims in riots. The riots were sparked off when Hindu extremists demolished a controversial structure of ‘Babri Masjid’ in Ayodhya, India. But, Muslim Mujahidddins declared the book dishonored the teachings of Islam. Consequently, the book was banned and several copies of the book were torched across the country. As it was inevitable, high ranking Muslim religious leaders declared a ‘Fatwa’ against her in 1994. Her passport and other documents were ceased. Thereafter all possible tactics were applied so that she could not leave the country. But international human rights organizations, Amnesty International and European Union played an important role for her safe escape to Sweden. Ever since 1994, she has been living in Europe.

In 1998 her mother died of cancer in Bangladesh, but due to security reason, she could not visit Bangladesh to see her mother. For this she always regrets. A few years later, she secretly came to meet her family members in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, she changed her mind and decided to face all charges against her in the law courts, but a powerful faction of an Islamic organization, Jamat-Ul-Mujahiddin, demanded Nasrin to be prosecuted under the Islamic law. This means a sure death penalty to her. Thus, she once again fled to Sweden as her life came under imminent threat.

Muslim religious leaders accuse her of blasphemy and not obeying the Koran. On top, she wrote all against the Koran, they blame. Some critics say that the book Lajja has freely eulogized Hindus and condemned Muslims.

But, Nasrin has refused this allegation of critics. She had defended it and said that the book was the result of the true account of her experience.

Muslim organizations, especially Jamat-Ul-Mujahiddin, put extreme pressure on the Bangladesh government for her extradition and punish her. Anyway she is a very bold lady so is Salman Rushdie. Defying the fatwa, frequently these authors go for tours, give lectures and share their experiences with the people of all walks of life. A few years ago, Taslima Nasrin had visited India, but she did not visit Bangladesh, her motherland.

We can easily feel Taslima’s concern for women and of course for her country.
She has warned Bangladesh for not coming under the influence of stubborn, religious fanatics, which will lead the country nowhere. She accuses that today, under the influence of increasing degree of religious sentiments; Bangladesh has become a safe haven for religious extremists, which help only producing Mujahiddins in the country. In a nutshell, these people just want to establish a Taleban type of rule in the country.

Well, after the publication of Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie has not written anything that could raise the eyebrows of Muslim religious leaders; whereas Taslima has not stopped unleashing the salvo of her frustrations and anger through various forms of creative writings. She writes what she feels good as a woman and as a writer.

At last but not the least let’s not forget to note that change is an inevitable course of nature. Anything that does not change with the pace of time is dead like a rock. Hence, sooner we learn to live ourselves with the pace of time, the better it is. And, as far as writers like Taslima Nasrin and Salman Rushdie are concerned, they will never acquiesce in and Fatwa can’t bare them from writing.

(This article was published on 4th May 2006 in People's Review Weekly. The author wrote this article from Beirut, Lebanon)

Charging Women Of Witchcrafts

LB Thapa, Pokhara

Nepalese women are still suffering from several discriminatory practices. They are tortured, harassed, dragged, raped and sometimes even beaten to death on various charges one being the witchcraft. Although the law has guaranteed them equal rights, such laws are only limited in the book.

Our media is replete with the news of women beaten up for practicing witchcraft. There are many villages in the country where the light of education has not reached and the people are under the impression of superstition. Quite often old, weak and single women are targeted and accused of practicing witchcraft. Such women are unable to defend themselves and become an easy object to be tortured by the
villagers. Sometimes the alleged witches are forced to eat or forcefully fed human excreta. On many occasions, the angry mob turned violent and took the lives of the victims. Now and then media report such embarrassing news. It highlights the gravity of the problem that demands urgent action without further delay.

In a recent past, Suk Bahadur Saru, 51, a local resident of Mityal VDC in Palpa district was accused of practicing witchcraft and troubling local people and their livestock. The local village court did also confirm his crime. Then what! The crowd lynched the man to death. Later, Suk Bahadur Saru’s body was thrown from a cliff to conceal the crime.
In another incident Dik Bahadur Bhujel of Karmaiya VDC, Sarlahi, killed Goma Devi Singdali, 70, and Ratna Maya Subedi, 60. He killed them with a large knife accusing them of causing stomach pain that lasted for three weeks. It sounds ridiculous but it is true.

Yet another shocking incident took place in 2001 in Simardahi where then VDC chiarman Nawal Kishor Sahani hired Ram Kripal Pandit (Indian national) and asked him to identify witches in his village. For the purpose, Sahani decreed all village women to assemble at one place for the Witch Identification Parade. Meanwhile, some clever villagers smelled rat with Sahani’s intention. They stood against Sahnai and asked him to release their wives or they would inform the police. Hence, the idea of parading women for the identification of witches was dropped.

Even in Kathmandu, the capital city, such incident takes place time and again.
Such inhuman activities are of course the result of illiteracy, superstition and poverty. On top, weak implementation of law is also responsible to a great deal. Had these perpetrators afraid of the legal punishment, they would have never executed such a heinous act against women.

It has already been explained by several psychologists that ghosts and spirit do exits only in the weak minds. They have no existence in real life. Dr Biswombandhu Sharma, Nepal’s leading psychologist, has said that only those people who are mentally weak do believe in the spirits and ghosts. Such stuff is the creation of a weak mind. A healthy brain is strong and doesn’t come under any such influence. "Many times it happens with the people when they are not ready to accept bad happenings with them. They simply blame others for their misfortunes. This give birth to superstitions" added Sharma.

Let’s not forget that if a person’s body becomes dysfunctional, for this, nothing else but only his body is responsible. Such physical ailments, if someone claims to treat through a litany of spells, it is nothing but only superstition. The truth is that all physical troubles need medical treatment to get rid of them. There are some people involved in some kind of shamanic practice. They take the advantage of gullible people and make them believe that a witch or a spirit is behind their miseries. In a country like Nepal where unemployment is so high, these illiterate shamans find it an effortless way to make a living.

Normally, it is experienced that mental related illness mostly attacks those women who are physically and mentally weaker. Hence, at times we see some women exhibiting strange behaviours beyond one’s comprehension. For this reason if any women undergoes through such hysteria or convulsion, it is nothing but a kind of mental illness. Whenever a symptom of such illness is seen in any woman, the best thing is to take her to the psychologist. A regular treatment and family support can soon make her strong enough to fight back the weaknesses.

Dr. Arati Poudel, working at the western region Gandaki Hospital, Pokhara, presently in Oman says, "If there is any secret education like Boksi Vidhya then why only women but many men would have learnt the art so that they could settle scores against their enemies. The strange fact is that why only women are blamed for being a witch, but not a man. Its only answer is they are weak and helpless. And if she has been abandoned by her husband, she becomes even more vulnerable. Has media ever reported a single piece of news where a rich and influential woman has been accused of practicing witchcraft? The answer is a big No".

Dr. Paudel is right when she says that people target weak women of our society to exploit them. It is always very easy to blame a woman for practicing witchcraft and the mass can be swayed against her.

Most of the violent cases of witchcraft have been reported from Mahotari, Dhanusa, and Sarlahi. Perhaps many people don’t know about a temple called Son Mai Temple. It lies in Jaleswor district headquarters of Mahotrari. Local people say that every year witches and spirits converge here in a large number. This is a kind of annual get-together of all witches and spirits. The local authority must restrict to organize such practice based on superstition.

In fact ignorance, superstition, illiteracy, and poverty are responsible to encourage the cases of witchcrafts against women at large, but at the same time weak enforcement of law is also responsible for spreading violence against women. To deal with such cases efficiently, the country should have stringent laws against the perpetrators. Strict implementation of the law is even more important. If the perpetrators are dealt with strict manner others would think twice before taking any action against the poor women. The woman empowerment is not possible unless violence against them is completely eradicated from our society.

(This article was published in The Rising Nepal)

Dr. Harka Gurung on Pokhara Tourism

By LB Thapa, Pokhara

Dr. Harka Gurung, a proud name of the country, was a true born nature conservationist. He is considered a leading ecologist and geographer of note. He was born in Bhulbhule, Lamjung on 5 January 1939. His enormous service to the nation at different capacities has duly put him at the highest pedestal. Dr. Gurung's vast erudition in geography and environment is simply unsurpassable. The volume and magnitude of work he undertook during his lifetime will remain alive in the memory of millions of Nepali.

Dr. Gurung, a scholar of multidimensional facets, remained devoted to the service of nature conservation until he breathed his last. He received school and college education in Kathmandu and Patna University, India .His thirst for knowledge took him as far as the U.K, where he studied geography and finally earned a doctorate degree from Edinburgh University, Scotland, in 1965. He could have better job opportunity there in the U.K, but his love for the motherland drove him back to Nepal. In Nepal, Dr. Gurung joined Trichandra College in 1967 and began to teach geography. There are many former students whom Dr. Gurung had taught still remember him as a teacher of immense wisdom and vast scholarship. He played a key role for the socio-economic development of rural Nepal. He was the first scholar who advised for separating the country into five development regions so that balanced development of all parts of the country could be possible.

His extensive knowledge on Nepalese geography, history, culture and society has largely helped the country to form right kind of policy that could augment social, geographical, cultural, and nature conservation activities in the country. His pioneer and innovative ideas stirred the country towards all round development and conservation of natural treasure of the country.Dr. Gurung, a man of academic excellence, has done several outstanding research works in the field of tourism, population, mountaineering and environment. He has also published dozens of books on regional planning, geography, demography, cartography and social science. Dr. Harka Gurung's love for Pokhara was quite palpable. He was always seen much worried of Pokhara's all-round tourism development. This was the reason why he would always heartily accept any invitation of attending a programme in Pokhara. Pokhara being the second destination for domestic and Indian tourists, he had advised for a direct flight from major Indian cities to Pokhara. To make all this possible he had vociferously demanded for the construction of an international airport in Pokhara at the earliest possible. He had also advised for exploiting cultural tourism that the Western Development Region is proud of, can help promoting cultural tourism in the region.

Long ago Dr. Gurung had advised to open Mt. Fishtail for mountaineers. He thought climbing on Mt. Fishtail would help improving economic status of the people living around the peak.He dismissed the idea of Mt. Fishtail being sacred and holding any religious importance to Gurung community. He made it clear that actually it is Mt. Annapurna that holds religious significance to Gurung community, not Mt.Fishtail. However, he strictly opposed the mad rush of rapid construction of concrete houses in Baidam area, which posed a grave threat to the existence of Phewa Lake itself. He advised not to spoil natural ambience of Begnas and Rupa lakes by constructing concrete mess. He was in favor of promoting handicraft items in Pokhara, so that it would help poor people to make a definite source of livelihood. But alas! What a tragedy struck!

An ill-fated helicopter of Shree Airlines that carried Dr. Harka Gurung and other twenty three dignitaries along with four crew members, crashed into the mountains of Taplejung district on 23rd September 2006 with no survivors. Untimely death of Dr. Harka Gurung is the irreparable loss to the nation. He met an accident at a time when he was on the pinnacle of success.

He was actively involved in various activities that led the country on the path of nature conservation and geographical excellence.Dr. Gurung remained active all his life for the smooth growth of tourism, besides other activities. It was his belief that merely overcrowding of visitors in few places can't help the country to promote tourism uniformly. Thus, new areas with more incentives should be promoted. He strongly supported the view of village tourism. He was one of the passionate champions of village tourism.
(The article was originally published in People's Review Weekly kathmandu, Nepal)

Beirut And My Novel

LB Thapa

For the last few years, I have had a strong desire to pen my first novel. But this had not been feasible. Teaching and doing some freelance writing took much of my energy. Then I realised that to live by writing in Nepal was difficult if not impossible. During this time, an opportunity to work in Beirut came my way. My job was to take care of the property of my wealthy Lebanese boss who was then living in London. Saturday was my day off, and I would walk down to the nearest seashore where I would sit on a rock and write.

Suddenly everything changed when Hezbollah captured four or five Israeli soldiers. It provoked Israel, and it resorted to military action. It was late at night when Israeli fighter jets pounded on the Beirut International Airport. This all happened when I was writing the last chapter of my novel. With each passing day, Israel intensified its air attacks, which started coming closer to our part of the area. Sometimes the explosions were so massive that we ran down to the basement. All people in our area began fleeing for safer havens. We were at a loss as to what to do! Meanwhile, we spoke to our Lebanese staff Malek Khourey and requested him to speak to our boss about the impending danger. But we were told not to leave the house. “Stay there! You are safer in my house than elsewhere in Beirut.” He may have been right, but we decided not to take any chance.

We began thinking of a safe passage out of Beirut as bombs began dropping within a kilometre of our house. While my colleagues were worried about their lives, I was thinking about my novel. I expedited my writing. During the day, I stole a little sleep, but for two whole nights I kept on writing and finally completed the novel. We left the building in a rush, leaving behind many goods and clothes. But I kept the manuscript of my novel with great care. Well, I can never forget the help my Lebanese friend Malek Khourey provided us. Our boss had instructed him not to put himself at risk by taking us to the Beirut port. After a few hours of official paper work, finally our ship left the Beirut port for Cyprus. Beirut city was under a cloud of black smoke, and the streets were deserted. To be honest I had fallen in love with Beirut the first day I landed there.

The Lebanese people are very brave, and the city is vibrant. Beirut lay further and further behind…It was a painful sight. Then I saw Malek Khourey waving his hands at me. I rose to my feet and also began waving. Meanwhile, a man beside me was fuming with anger, and warned me not to disturb his sleep. I looked at my watch, it was midnight. I lay on the deck, pulled up the blanket, and placed my head on my shoes and made an effort to sleep.

(The article was published in People's Review Weekly, Kathmandu, Nepal)

GHANDRUK NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL

BY LB Thapa

Most of the tourists say if one has not been to Ghandruk, their visit to Nepal is incomplete. It is not only a popular saying, but a complete truth. In fact, there are numerous beautiful places scattered all over Nepal, but Ghandruk has different place to put. Perched on the peak of majestic mountains, Ghandruk has lured many tourists both domestic and foreigners.

Predominantly Ghandruk is a beautiful village where Gurung people live in majority. Despite the encroachment of modernity, the people of Ghandruk have maintained age-old cultural tradition. Among others, traditional houses of Ghandruk attract visitors' admiration.

Most of the houses of Ghandruk use flat pieces of stone for roof making. Unlike the people of other villages, people of Ghandruk are very active and aware. The entire village is kept thoroughly clean. Hotels and restaurants are well managed where guests can enjoy life to the fullest.

Tourists don't only enjoy idyllic beauty of Ghandruk, but they can also enjoy modern facilities available in the hotels those of Kathmandu and Pokhara. "We have pertinently maintained tradition and modernity go side by side. We are careful that rapid pace of modernization should not spoil age-old tradition of Tamu Community.

Nowadays, local people of Ghandruk can watch cable T.V with 10 popular channels. Some high standard hotels are also in Ghandruk which provide much comfort to tourists", said the manager of Sakura Guest House.

Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) is very popular in Ghandruk. This project is regarded as a guardian of this village.ACAP charges Rs.200 to the visitors of the SAARC countries whereas visitors from other countries have to pay Rs. 2000 only.

"It is ACAP that has completely transformed the face of Ghandruk. Had ACAP not taken interest in Ghandruk, today this beautiful village must have been left in the state of oblivion. ACAP introduced the concept of tourism in the region", said Toran Bahadur Gurung, retired headmaster of a public school. He now lives at Chhomrung.

Over the past few years, under the initiation of ACAP, Ghandruk has taken galloping strides. Several small and big projects were begun, and the pace of development was quite satisfactory. It was the result of ACAP's long term planning and hard work that Ghandruk became successful in leaving an indelible mark among the visitors.However, things began to deteriorate as soon as Maoist insurgents began to pour into the village.

The presence of gun totting Maoists in the past instilled the sense of fear and insecurity among the people and tourists. "Maoist activists hurled bombs and set the whole building on fire. Ever since Maoists armed operation the building has been left unused", said a local resident of Ghandruk village. The Maoists, during the insurgency, wrecked havoc. They destroyed much of infrastructures of this village. Local people here have strong dislike against Maoists, but due to fear of possible retribution, they keep quiet.

"The Maoists compelled many hotels and restaurants owners including individuals for donation. They did also ask money as an entry fee from the foreigners. And they are still doing this. They should have not damaged ACAP building as it brought development in Ghandruk. The destruction that the Maoists did in Ghandruk must be compensated. For this, Maoists themselves must come forward for the reconstruction of Ghandruk", said Jugdip Gurung, president of Munal Youth Club, with the tinge of anger and frustration. Old Gurung Museum (OGM) is the main attraction of Ghandruk.

All visitors to Ghandruk never miss to visit this museum. The museum has unique collection of various things, which were used in early times by the ancestors of Gurung people. "I had intense desire to present Gurung art, culture and tradition to people who visit Ghandruk. But I didn't know how to do that. Then one day I came up with an idea of opening a museum. With the help of ACAP, I managed to open this museum in 1998. However, I haven't received an iota of assistance from the government or the Tourism board. I have invested all my money to collect each and every item from various sources in my museum", said disgruntled curator Yuktaman Gurung. Besides museums there is one more thing in Ghandruk that draws tourists' interest.

And it is Traditional Gurung Costumes and Jewelry Centre, being runned by Harimaya Gurung. "Tourists of all ages show great interest in hiring jewellery and costumes. Clad in Gurung costumes with beautiful jewellery, everyone likes to get photographed" added Hari Maya. Harimaya Gurung came up with this novel idea only after her visit to Saura in Chitwan and Darjeeling, India. "I saw people dressed in Tharu costume and posing for photograph in Saura impressed me a lot. This inspired me to run a similar business here in Ghandruk," revealed Harimaya .

Due to this facility, tourists can take their memories of Ghandruk back to their homes. At the same time, Harimaya's effort is to preserve Gurung art, culture and costumes for the posterity. "Tourists show their photos to their friends and urge them to visit Ghandruk. Though this is a cheap mode of advertisement, yet much more effective way of advertising than spending a large sum of money", vouched Harimaya Gurung by displaying her proud collection of jewellery and costume at her shop. On the matter of climbing over Mt. Fishtail, Gurung community of Ghandruk is always divided.

A large section of Gurung people doesn't welcome the idea of climbing the Mt. Fishtail. "It is definitely going to hamper our business. The business we are getting now will sure to divert to other side of Mt. Fishtail. So, the majority of tourism entrepreneurs of Ghandruk don't like the idea of Mt. Fishtail opening for the climbing. Secondly, Mt. Fishtail is also regarded as a virgin mountain among Gurung community", said Dhruba Gurung, manger of Shangrila Gurest House.

Chhomrung is yet another beautiful hamlet in Ghandruk. It lies at the distance of a day's journey from Ghandruk. Chhomrung is relatively a small village, but it is very beautiful and well organized. Most of the tourists who visit Ghandruk never miss an opportunity to visit Chhomrung. Looking at Chhomrung from a distance, it seems that the mighty mountain is cradling the tiny village in its arms. Though this tiny village has many things to offer, Jhinu Hot Spring is the main attraction of this village.

The lukewarm water of this spring attracts all people to take a shower. Some people even don't hesitate to take a plunge into the pond. Some people in Ghandruk do think that still a lot has to be done to promote Ghandruk as a more popular tourist's destination in the region. "Bandipur has expensed more money on publicity. The working committee of Bandipur is more active than ours. They never fail to grab any available opportunity come by, but we don't. Bandipur and several other places of the region have already organized Fair and Mahotsav, but Ghandruk has not done anything like that yet.

I think the working committee of Ghandruk must be more active before it is too late", said Ashish Gurung, a local resident of Ghandruk village. Road construction has already begun. But the very task could not gather much pace due to constant disagreement and arguments among the people.

One group of people strongly opposes the idea of constructing a road to Ghandruk. They claim if a road from Pokhara to Ghandruk is built, most visitors won't stay tonight there. This way they will lose a big part of business. Meanwhile, some other groups of people don't agree with this idea. They say if road construction is done, Ghandruk will receive even more visitors than before. "This is wrong to think that most of the visitors won't stay tonight in Ghandruk only if a road is constructed. Antithesis to this, I think, more visitors will stay back in Ghandruk and enjoy sight-seeing. A construction of road will not only attract more number of foreigners but also domestic visitors", said Dhan Bahadur Gurung, a civil engineer who hailed from Chhomrung.
Many people in Ghandruk don't like to see a mad rush of concrete blocks. They think modern construction of houses have distorted the traditional outlook of the village. "If the pace of rapid construction of concrete houses are not stopped now then very soon Ghandruk might turn into a concrete slum. We must not forget one thing that all visitors whether domestic or foreigners they don't come to see multi-storey building in Ghandruk. They come to see a traditional Ghandruk. So, we must work collectively to preserve Tamu art, culture and tradition with all sincerity and commitment", said Kisam Gurung, president of Lodge Management Committee (LMC).

Local people and Maoists must work hand in hand in building Ghandruk once again. Maoists must try to win people's support by doing reconstruction activities. In the past few years, the Maoists destroyed several important infrastructures of Ghandruk. The whole ACAP building is one of them. Without Maoists cooperation no development task can be initiated in the region. This is also a very good opportunity for the Maoists to improve their image in the eyes of people as a whole.

(This article was published in The Rising Nepal)