Culture Vs Conflict

 By Sanjita Napit

Whatever happened during the 'Rato Machhindranath   Jatra' is really  not acceptable. It's hideous. A clap is never possible with single hand. To hear that particular sound of a clap both your hands are required.

Just to blame one group during chaos is not justifiable at all.BOTH groups are responsible.

Rato Machhindranath jatra holds its own belief values and culture. The  local inhabitants of Lalitpur  celebrate this jatra for the sake of the welfare of the country and its government and its people, to protect the country from drought and is termed as giver of rain.It is the longest chariot procession in the country honoring the Buddhist deity.

The route procession of the jatra starts from Pulchowk  and ends at Jawalakhel after the initiation of the making of 60 foot tall chariot.

During this period of corona virus pandemic everyone around the world is afraid. They have fear of getting infected and fear of getting away from their loved ones.Who on earth wants to get away from their loved ones deliberately?

The heart and soul of people are badly affected. In this situation people are likely to suffer from mental illness,depression,high blood pressure and what not.

In spite of spreading corona virus,after eternal six months of lockdown Nepalese government decided to end lockdown. Why?? End of lockdown began with the rapid spread of corona virus cases. 

Meanwhile our government announced of paying taxes in time. All the government offices opened for public just for collecting taxes. Wow!How cool is that??

Government can announce the end of lockdown whenever they want and apply lockdown whenever the environment for them is preferable.We are citizens of our country not puppets!!

We love our country and its culture and its traditions. As food is tasteless without salt, Nepal is incomplete without its culture and traditions.

The one thing we can proudly boast in front of the world is our culture,traditions and lifestyle.

The chaos,commotion,mob that occurred during the jatra is particularly the result of bad governance. The Newars are the ancient inhabitants of Kathmandu Lalitpur and Bhaktapur valley. Each and every day there are jatras happening around the alleys of the valley. They celebrate because they have Faith in god. They celebrate because they believe nothing bad will happen to the country and its people. They celebrate to preserve ancient Nepal.They celebrate to give knowledge and values of jatras to the young generations. They celebrate to be happy and make others happy.

But due to covid 19 all the cultures and traditions are STOPPED.Only the customary cultures of worshipping lodeities are performed expect the pulling of chariot.The Ghode jatra of Pashupatinath, Bisket Jatra of Bhaktapur, Indra jatra of Basantapur were all celebrated without pulling of chariot. But the belief of Rato Machhindranath jatra of Lalitpur is different.It is compulsory to pull the chariot of Machhindranath all the way from Pulchowk to Jawalakhel.In any case if the chariot does not reach Bungamati which is its place of origin the jatra would pass to Bhaktapur and likewise to Kathmandu.The major festival of Lalitpur is diminished. And the existence of jatras is threatened.

The inhabitants of Patan also didn't want to risk their lives in this period of pandemic. Because of their belief towards their god they couldn't tolerate the condition the chariot was on. If the chariot was not made at all they would have satisfied themselves with customary worships. But the government itself allowed the making of chariot and now the inhabitants will want their deity to be pulled towards its destination.Have you seen anyone so stupid prepared for feast and sitting idle at home?

BECAUSE of the miscommunication and lack of coordination among the local inhabitants, local authority, concerned government and police forces resulted the huge mob and commotion between locals and police forces.

People also had to be self aware of putting on a mask,wearing gloves and most of all social distancing. 

Corona virus spreads from touch,cough and sneezing which is the basics that needs to be understood. Even though we have Faith in god we have to have Faith in ourselves and we need to love ourselves first.If we love ourselves we will be aware of our own health as well as others.The pulling of the chariot could be pulled by social distancing and corona virus preventive measures and protocol;which were vividly the faults of the people determined to pull the chariot.

Wheras police officers could also handle the situation by meeting the head of the people responsible for conducting jatras.Obviously the local people would listen to their local guardian and the jatra would have completed serenely.

But both the groups were on tantrum it resulted in a mob.If police officers as well as public could have a little more patience to listen to each other and their side of views mob could have easily been prevented.

So let us celebrate our culture with covid 19 protocol preventive measures and have a little more patience to listen to opposing groups as well.

The guardian authorities should be more responsible. It is in our hands how we make our society and community.