With the recent stripping and thrashing of the 2 newly appointed indian preists of the Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal being hot news, i thought i'd do a post on that. However i have decided to repost an old post from the archives instead.
Written almost 2 & 1/2 years ago it seems almost prophetic (even though i say so myself)
Your thoughts please....
Luv
Vish
Tuesday, March 20, 2007,
Hiya,
All of you, Nepali or otherwise, must be aware of all the ‘changes’ happening in Nepal.
One of the saddest ones was turning Nepal into a Secular country.
It was after all the only Hindu kingdom in the world...... And then there was none.
I am not a religious fanatic like Narendra Modi or even a fanatic in a liberal garb like L K Advani but I just feel that this was not necessary.
Who were we trying to appease? The 1.2 % Muslims in Nepal?
They were not even asking for it and neither were they being discriminated against.
Now after this, non existant communal lines will begin to appear in the society and the country will get divided along those very lines.
As some wise ass said If it Aint Broke Why Fix It?
Anyway even if we get over that, the other thing that needles me is that the King & Queen have been removed as Head & Patron of the Pashupati Temple Trust.
This is now under the stewardship of the Prime Minister’s office.
I am not a fan of Gyanendra and am not defending him either so all you Maoist sympathizers, please, get off your pseudo moral high horses right now.
(By the way I wonder if the ‘supporters’ of the Maoists actually understand the teachings and doctrines of Mao or are they just mice being led along to a precipice by Pied Piper Prachanda?
Someone please tell them that when the Maoists come to power, land and houses in Nepal will not be ‘distributed’ to them free of cost.
The rich will remain rich, the ones willing and able to work will go abroad and the poor & stupid will remain just that. Poor & Stupid.
The land of Mao itself is turning capitalist and the fools here dream on.)
Anyway, my arguments are for another reason altogether.
Its religious actually, not political!
Whenever you read of Saudi King Abdullah in any Newspaper printed or published out of a Muslim country he is referred to as "King of Saudi Arabia & Custodian of the Two Holy Sites."
It is an official title and the Muslims are very particular and proud of the fact. Apart from all that oil money, a lot of his influence in the Arab /Muslim world comes from that. It is a deeply religious thing for them.
Nepal’s kings and their heirs (whether deposed or not and with all their frailities & mistakes) will all be Hindu’s.
In secular Nepal, however, you cannot stop a non-Hindu or even an Atheist (as all Maoists should be) from becoming Prime Minister.
And before any of you claim otherwise, let me clarify that I have no objections to a non Hindu becoming PM.
Its just that I don’t relish the thought of a non-Hindu being the Patron of one of the holiest sites in Hinduism. That would be heresy.
I am not a religious extremist because that would mean being intolerant of the others. I am not.
However I am proud of being a Hindu. That’s not fanatic is it?
Give it some thought.
I do benefits for all religions.
I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.
- Bob Hope
I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.
- Bob Hope
A proud Hindu as well... but don't get what you believe is a holy site that will be led by a non-Hindu. Nepal has so much dysfunctionality within that becoming secular would be the least of its problems. I'm sure you know though that the Pashupathinath issue had more to do with the fact that the priests were Indians rather than them being Hindu. So while you are arguing the religious aspects, they are totally riding a political horse...
ReplyDeleteGood quote from Bob Hope there though...love the visuals you source :)