Nepal

Kathmandu, August 16

Gai Jatra, one of the traditional festivals most popular in Kathmandu valley, was celebrated with much fanfare, paying tributes to persons who died in the last one year.

Gai Jatra, which is also literally called the Festival of Cows, falls on the first day of the waning moon in Nepali month of Bhadra.

Valley denizens observed the festival by performing mask dances and dramas in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur cities. The government had declared public holiday in the valley to mark the festival.

Though this festival is observed mainly by the Newar community, other communities also participate with great enthusiasm. On the occasion, revellers in strange and funny costumes took out rallies in memory of their deceased loved ones. Real cows are also brought out in the procession as it is believed that cows help departed souls to make their way safely to the heaven. Various places in the valley, mainly Basantapur, drew a huge crowd.

Gai Jatra is also celebrated as an occasion to satirise evil traditions and practices of the society.

Comedians celebrated the festival by organising shows with satiric performances on failures of the government, political parties, leaders and the society in general, as a way of raising public awareness against their wrongdoings.

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Kathmandu, August 16

Though the constitution and existing laws state that every citizen shall have equal access to health services, many people in the country are still deprived of basic health services.

According to the constitutional provisions, every citizen shall have the right to enjoy basic health services for free and no one shall be deprived of emergency health services. A report published by the Province 3 Office of the National Human Rights Commission said that the government had a provision of providing 70 types of medicines for various communicable and non-communicable diseases free of cost through district-based hospitals across the country, but the health facilities were found to be providing not more than 30 of such medicines during the monitoring conducted in fiscal 2018-19.

&Despite deputation of doctors at some primary health care facilities at local levels, they are virtually jobless for want of necessary tools and equipment to ensure full utilisation of their expertise,& it read. The NHRC also said health insurance schemes introduced by the government in some districts were ineffective. Health Insurance Act-2017, requires every Nepali citizen to get his/her health insured. Under the health insurance programme, the insured shall enjoy services like nutrition, yoga, psycho-social counselling, vaccination, family planning, safe motherhood, out-patient and emergency health services, operation, medicines, curative and preventive services, rehabilitation and ambulance service.

&All citizens are interested to get their health insured, but they are not able to enjoy health services at the hospital designated for treatment due to lack of required number of doctors, health workers, essential medicines and equipment,& the report stated.

The NHRC said though cases of torture meted out to crime suspects by police were declining gradually, they had to be eliminated completely. According to the rights watchdog, it continued to receive the complaints of torture, misbehaviour and abuse in police custody. It urged the government to upgrade existing amenities in prisons and guarantee basic human rights, including sanitation, room space, quality food and regular health check-ups of inmates.

The government still uses torture as its weapon to force suspects to confess crime, claims the report. National and international laws consider torture as a crime. Therefore, it is illegal to torture a person on any pretext. NHRC stressed the need to upgrade amenities of the prisons and police custody rooms, and guarantee basic human rights, including sanitation, room space, quality food and regular health check-ups of the inmates.

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Kathmandu, August 16

Itbeen almost four years since promulgation of the constitution, but seven thematic commissions envisioned in the statute to address concerns of marginalised groups are yet to get complete shape.

Rights activists attribute the situation to flawed notion of political parties on governance, human rights and justice.

Of the seven such thematic commissions, four are awaiting appointment of office bearers, whereas the three only have chairpersons. As per the constitutional provision, each of these commissions will have a chairperson and up to four members.

The Constitutional Council headed by the prime minister had on January 20 named chiefs of four commissions — Shanta Raj Subedi as chairperson of the Inclusive Commission, Vijay Kumar Dutta as chairman of the Madhesi Commission, Bishnu Prasad Chaudhary as chief of the Tharu Commission and Samim Ansari as chief of the Muslim Commission. After Subedi resigned from his post recently, the Inclusion Commission is now left with only one member.

At that time, the government had said appointments in rest of the three commissions — the Indigenous Nationalities Commission, the National Dalit Commission and the National Women Commission — would be made soon.

While the commissions without members are only discharging administrative duties, those with only chairmen are facing difficulties in taking decisions. Moreover, the commissions have also complained about lack of human resources and other infrastructure for their functioning.

Under Secretary at the Dalit Commission Giriraj Gyawali said they were limited to doing administrative works because of delay in appointment of members. &If we receive complaints, we can convey to police or chief district officers, but cannot make policy recommendations to the government,& he said.

Gyawali also complained about lack of necessary infrastructure as the commission was stationed in a congested five-room apartment. &Should the appointment of members be made, we will fall short of space,& he said.

The situation is no different with commissions that have chiefs. The Madhesi Commission Chair Dutta said he was facing difficulties in taking unilateral decisions on issues that would have long-term impact, besides complaining about manpower shortage.

Tharu Commission Chair Chaudhari expressed a similar view. &Since I am from the western part of the country, I definitely face difficulties in taking decisions regarding concerns of Tharus in the east,& he said, adding, &If we had members representing different parts of the country, decision making would have been much faster and easier.&

Rights activists said the commissions were provisioned in the constitution not because of their necessity, but for political appeasement.

&At a time when the government is feeling burdened by the National Human Rights Commission, how can we expect formation of other commissions that function as watchdogs,& said rights activist Kapil Shrestha. &The government does not want strong watchdogs, but submissive ones.&

Experts also attributed inordinate delay in formation of the commissions to the culture of seat sharing among political parties, including the opposition party.

The NHRC member Mohna Ansari said the opposition party, which was represented in the Constitutional Council, was equally responsible. She said the opposition could pressure the government, but the quota system for appointments held it back.

&Not addressing concerns of excluded groups for a long time means not recognising voices of groups that have long been waiting for social justice, among other things,& she said, adding, &Offering them a platform for sharing their concerns and addressing them will definitely be in the interest of the parties and the nation. But the issues are raised only during elections.&

Both Ansari and Shrestha said a divided civil society and intelligentsia also resulted in almost non-existence of pressure groups, which emboldened the government and parties not to be accountable to issues of public concerns.

The government said that the appointments will be made at an appropriate time after necessary consultation. &When the appointments are made, therehullabaloo. But that should not be a reason for delay,& said Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal.

&The government is serious about the delay, and appointments will be made after necessary consultations,& he added.

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KATHMANDU: Gai Jatra is being observed in the country today, especially in Kathmandu Valley, in the memory of deceased family members.

The day, which literally means the festival of cows, is marked by bereaved families taking out processions in memory of the ones they have lost. People, especially children, walk in different kinds of costumes and the processions are also accompanied by traditional bands. Gai Jatra is mainly observed in different areas of the three districts in the valley — Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

Gai Jatra derives its name from the Hindu religious belief that the deceased, during their journey to heaven, cross a river by grabbing the tail of a cow. Therefore, most of the people dress like cows while walking in the procession. Bereaved families along with bystanders offer fruits, bread, beaten rice, curd, money among other items to those participating in the procession.

The then King of the Malla dynasty, Pratap Malla, started the festival to console his queen — who lamented over the death of their son — by revealing to her that there are many others suffering from the pain of losing a loved one.

Gai Jatra also carries a powerful social aspect. It is marked as the occasion to satirise evil traditions and practices of the society.

The festival, also known as Saa-Paaru in Nepal Bhasa, is mainly observed by the Newar community of the valley, however, there is an increasing participation of other communities as well in the processions. Likewise, Gai Jatra has also crossed the boundaries of the valley and people in some other parts of the country are also seen observing the festival.

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