Kathmandu Post

Editorial»

Last rites

SEP 25 -
It was earlier this year in January that a row over burials in the Shleshmantak woods reappeared after a 12-year gap. In 1998, the government banned non-Hindu burials in the premises. After a fierce protest from the Kirant community, the government re-opened the area for burials for a three-month period until an alternative solution could be conjured. However, those three months turned into over a decade. After halting burials again last December, a fresh round of protests started—now coming from both Kirant and Christian communities, and finally a taskforce has been established to find alternative burial sites. But in the 12 years of non-regulation, not only did burials continue, but modernity took its toll on traditional methods of Kirant last-rites. What we have now is an area in Pashupati, a World Heritage Site that resembles a grave yard. Massive concrete and marble structures are scattered throughout the area. Traditionally, Kirant last-rites were performed in such a way that didn’t leave behind any visible obstructions to the natural forest; the dead were buried and trees and rocks planted over them in remembrance of the dead. These trees and rocks have now been replaced by marble and concrete with colour photographs and etchings. However, the conundrums do not end there.

With lack of burial space for a fast-growing Christian minority, many in the community (often converts from the Kiranti community) have been holding Christian burials in the area. And now, along with obstructive Kiranti graves, there are thousands of Christian tombstones in the forest. While this would be of no immediate concern if the Shleshmantak woods were any ordinary forest, but it is seen to be part and parcel of one of the most sacred sites for Hindus the world over — the Pashupati temple.

But the valley being as crowded as it is, the Christian community, of whom many already had ties with the Kiranti tradition, took up burials on the Shleshmantak grounds. It was then to be the Pashupati Area Development Trust’s responsibility to simultaneously stop these burials but also to appeal to the government to provide minority communities with an alternative. Neither of these happened. And now with burials again having been halted, frustrations among both Kiranti and Christian communities are to be expected. It seems that the government has finally taken note of the gravity of the situation and promised the issue will be resolved by finding an alternative site within three months. However, the longer the issue stays unresolved, the more intense the politics over the dead will become. It will only bring further complications to the relationship between Hindus and non-Hindus. The last thing we need is to further strain communal ties. And while it can be argued whether it is the state’s responsibility to manage the affairs of the dead or not, it is clear that this particular scenario will have wider, perhaps nastier ramifications if it is not handled quickly and with the sensitivity that it deserves.

Posted on: 2011-09-26 09:44

---