Why still the World cares for Nepal?
Prakash Bom
March 29, 2009
In 561 BCE when Siddhartha Gautama, the prince of Kapilavastu - one of the small kingdoms of the northern delta of Ganges became a Buddha there was neither the modern India nor Nepal nor Brahminist Sanskrit Bharat. However, the modern India has not clearly backed off from its early projection of claiming Buddha as an Indian just as claiming Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in order to glorify the world image of India. Yet the world pilgrims and tourists come to Lumbhini in Nepal to pay the visit of archaeological world heritage of Buddha´s birth place.
Nepal is trying to secure its national heritages, which have lost their historical evidence in the early decades of Indian liberation after British empire under the modern India´s political propaganda to homogenize Nepal in a way as if it is part of Indian heritage, which communist nationalists of Nepal call it Indian-expansionism but I call it "Dhoti politics" that in fact began at the time when Brahminists projected to homogenize entire South Asia as Bharatavarsa. Even though technology has rewritten the history of South Asia the Brahminist propaganda still overrules the average mind of the world.
I bet if ever a snap poll is taken to find out the conception of people about the origin of Buddha around the world the majority response will be India despite UNESCO´s testimony of archaeological site for Buddha´s birth place in Lumbhini, Nepal. This is how Nepal has been suppressed within by its own rulers and out of its territory as a nation on the face of earth in South Asia.
Yet people are not sure how the new political change can stop Nepal from being unduly demoralized from within by its own ruling elites and out by its age-old cultural partner India for its socio-political and economic backwardness.
There are certain socio-economic elements that allow ruthless exploitation of have-nots, particularly of women of Nepal both in the cities of Nepal and India; marginalized ethnic group such as Badhi within the Nepali communities; and children under child labor, must be considered seriously by all means to regulate under the rule of law for the dignity of Nepal. At this juncture, the responsibility of it solely lies on the Constituent Assembly and its government for regulations.
World knows one third of twenty seven million population of Nepal live under the poverty-line. But this does not mean women, for example, as sex worker should be exploited without their human rights. There are quarter of a million (2,50,000) Nepali sex workers sold in the brothel through out the cities of India are working in the prison like condition without their rights – right to be free or right to have sex-worker license.
In the dark rooms of hotels and restaurants of tourist cities of Nepal there are thousand of women sex-workers self-employed in hiding at risk against the current law under which prostitution is illegal. Since the law restricts, the sex-workers earn the least but end up paying their most of the compensation to the pimps and the hotels and restaurants.
The news about poor parents of villages of Nepal selling their daughters under eighteen to traffickers with as little money as US$200 is all over the media. The implementation of the anti-trafficking law has been found ineffective. It could have been reasonable if the women sold to Indian brothel can make money and support their parents. But it is miserable because the law that is biased against sex-workers cannot make the prostitution legal. That´s why the life of the innocent young women of South Asia has become the black market sex commodity.
I wonder if Nepal´s political mindset of major political parties can understand the statistical fact that prostitution was the foremost and the most ancient profession in human evolution for earning a livelihood. The profession was condemned only after the rise of religions based on Old Biblical Testament – Christians (1st ACE) and Islam (7th ACE).
The traditions of courtesans are found all over the ancient religious literatures of the world and Apsaras in Vedic literature are the most inspiring. Therefore, the current status quo against the profession for prostitution in South Asian society stands against the rights of the sex-workers.
The world would care for Nepal more if the new political scenario of the nation can address this socio-economic issue through regulation to lift the lives of more than a million women of Nepal from the brothels of Nepal and India by giving them right to have the professional license of sex worker. This will give not only the professional freedom to the sex-workers but it also prevent spread of AID and HIV through the process of regulation that in order to renew sex-worker license the individual has to go through quarterly medical check-up.
The provision will enhance not only the lives of sex-workers but it can also give positive feedback to entire prostitution industry that the sex-workers with the license can serve Indian market instead of having poor parents sell their daughters for $200 to traffickers, who never return home in their life. Besides, Nepal´s tourism industry can feel safe to have professional and healthy sex-workers at service. This is the most effective and viable solution to check and balance the illegal human trafficking of innocent women of Nepal and the spread of AID and HIV through out the country.
Under this regulation Nepal can demand India to public quarter million Nepali women sex-workers from the brothels for issuing sex-worker license basically for health purpose in order to check spreading of AID and HIV into Nepal. The license should give sex-workers freedom to travel wherever their license allows them to earn their livelihood and protect their health. If Nepal can initiate such a change then entire South Asia might follow the trend just as in the countries of Western Europe – France, Germany, Denmark and so on.
The question is whether Nepal can rapidly develop within a decade in order to normalize sex-workers population with better choice of livelihoods. If not Maoist hardliners will have to understand the significance of professionalizing prostitution for sex-workers. If not as recent occurrences, the political party leaders and members of Constituent Assembly can end up with the illegal sex-workers in the darkroom.
Surely, the world would appreciate such a thoughtful initiative with the large compensations that can not only address the misery of Nepali women in brothels but also will help control the spread of AID and HIV. That´s why the novelist Daphne Beal mentioned about the Nepali sex-workers in the streets of Bombay red-light district in the third section of her novel "In the Land of No Right Angles."
There are those who still care for Nepal and make Nepal their favorite place in the world. For example, the Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler who has chosen Nepal as his favorite place for a new book of National Geographic. I wish Nepali elites of every walk of life could appreciate those who still care for Nepal without calling them "Kuerye" or "Dhoti" – by random-words that have become derogatorily popular even in the tongues of educated.
It is insensitive to make a random conclusion by putting them all in one basket because someone from somewhere looked different, act unfamiliar and spoke with foreign tongue. Despite our lack of popular appreciation there are those around the world – in Europe, America, Australia and India who still care for Nepal and Nepali people. But if we cannot have a public respect among us for those who care for us with the choice of decent words then the government must regulate against such stereotypes.
I personally wish to advocate the necessity of regulating against the use of demoralizing stereotypes and use of derogatory words. For example, I really think that Nepali word "Ta" (equivalent to English word ´Thou´ and Hindi word ´Tum´) should be eliminated from public use in the public places. In my opinion the use of word ´Ta´ should be limited within the family tradition and perhaps in the rare occasion of literary works.
Of course, those who still care for Nepal can lead the horse to the water but cannot make him drink. For Buddha and Vedic teachers a receptor (candidate) who can perceive the significance of dialogue or commune gave hope for change. But those who worship them commune nothing for change except for misleading themselves with their teaching. In every aspect, the change for human condition in every society is vital. But still with the care of the world Nepal remains adamant with its status quo – be a feudal Brahminists or an ideologue communist or all knowing ruling elite then people´s hope for change will demoralized as usual.
Nepal is trying to secure its national heritages, which have lost their historical evidence in the early decades of Indian liberation after British empire under the modern India´s political propaganda to homogenize Nepal in a way as if it is part of Indian heritage, which communist nationalists of Nepal call it Indian-expansionism but I call it "Dhoti politics" that in fact began at the time when Brahminists projected to homogenize entire South Asia as Bharatavarsa. Even though technology has rewritten the history of South Asia the Brahminist propaganda still overrules the average mind of the world.
I bet if ever a snap poll is taken to find out the conception of people about the origin of Buddha around the world the majority response will be India despite UNESCO´s testimony of archaeological site for Buddha´s birth place in Lumbhini, Nepal. This is how Nepal has been suppressed within by its own rulers and out of its territory as a nation on the face of earth in South Asia.
Yet people are not sure how the new political change can stop Nepal from being unduly demoralized from within by its own ruling elites and out by its age-old cultural partner India for its socio-political and economic backwardness.
There are certain socio-economic elements that allow ruthless exploitation of have-nots, particularly of women of Nepal both in the cities of Nepal and India; marginalized ethnic group such as Badhi within the Nepali communities; and children under child labor, must be considered seriously by all means to regulate under the rule of law for the dignity of Nepal. At this juncture, the responsibility of it solely lies on the Constituent Assembly and its government for regulations.
World knows one third of twenty seven million population of Nepal live under the poverty-line. But this does not mean women, for example, as sex worker should be exploited without their human rights. There are quarter of a million (2,50,000) Nepali sex workers sold in the brothel through out the cities of India are working in the prison like condition without their rights – right to be free or right to have sex-worker license.
In the dark rooms of hotels and restaurants of tourist cities of Nepal there are thousand of women sex-workers self-employed in hiding at risk against the current law under which prostitution is illegal. Since the law restricts, the sex-workers earn the least but end up paying their most of the compensation to the pimps and the hotels and restaurants.
The news about poor parents of villages of Nepal selling their daughters under eighteen to traffickers with as little money as US$200 is all over the media. The implementation of the anti-trafficking law has been found ineffective. It could have been reasonable if the women sold to Indian brothel can make money and support their parents. But it is miserable because the law that is biased against sex-workers cannot make the prostitution legal. That´s why the life of the innocent young women of South Asia has become the black market sex commodity.
I wonder if Nepal´s political mindset of major political parties can understand the statistical fact that prostitution was the foremost and the most ancient profession in human evolution for earning a livelihood. The profession was condemned only after the rise of religions based on Old Biblical Testament – Christians (1st ACE) and Islam (7th ACE).
The traditions of courtesans are found all over the ancient religious literatures of the world and Apsaras in Vedic literature are the most inspiring. Therefore, the current status quo against the profession for prostitution in South Asian society stands against the rights of the sex-workers.
The world would care for Nepal more if the new political scenario of the nation can address this socio-economic issue through regulation to lift the lives of more than a million women of Nepal from the brothels of Nepal and India by giving them right to have the professional license of sex worker. This will give not only the professional freedom to the sex-workers but it also prevent spread of AID and HIV through the process of regulation that in order to renew sex-worker license the individual has to go through quarterly medical check-up.
The provision will enhance not only the lives of sex-workers but it can also give positive feedback to entire prostitution industry that the sex-workers with the license can serve Indian market instead of having poor parents sell their daughters for $200 to traffickers, who never return home in their life. Besides, Nepal´s tourism industry can feel safe to have professional and healthy sex-workers at service. This is the most effective and viable solution to check and balance the illegal human trafficking of innocent women of Nepal and the spread of AID and HIV through out the country.
Under this regulation Nepal can demand India to public quarter million Nepali women sex-workers from the brothels for issuing sex-worker license basically for health purpose in order to check spreading of AID and HIV into Nepal. The license should give sex-workers freedom to travel wherever their license allows them to earn their livelihood and protect their health. If Nepal can initiate such a change then entire South Asia might follow the trend just as in the countries of Western Europe – France, Germany, Denmark and so on.
The question is whether Nepal can rapidly develop within a decade in order to normalize sex-workers population with better choice of livelihoods. If not Maoist hardliners will have to understand the significance of professionalizing prostitution for sex-workers. If not as recent occurrences, the political party leaders and members of Constituent Assembly can end up with the illegal sex-workers in the darkroom.
Surely, the world would appreciate such a thoughtful initiative with the large compensations that can not only address the misery of Nepali women in brothels but also will help control the spread of AID and HIV. That´s why the novelist Daphne Beal mentioned about the Nepali sex-workers in the streets of Bombay red-light district in the third section of her novel "In the Land of No Right Angles."
There are those who still care for Nepal and make Nepal their favorite place in the world. For example, the Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler who has chosen Nepal as his favorite place for a new book of National Geographic. I wish Nepali elites of every walk of life could appreciate those who still care for Nepal without calling them "Kuerye" or "Dhoti" – by random-words that have become derogatorily popular even in the tongues of educated.
It is insensitive to make a random conclusion by putting them all in one basket because someone from somewhere looked different, act unfamiliar and spoke with foreign tongue. Despite our lack of popular appreciation there are those around the world – in Europe, America, Australia and India who still care for Nepal and Nepali people. But if we cannot have a public respect among us for those who care for us with the choice of decent words then the government must regulate against such stereotypes.
I personally wish to advocate the necessity of regulating against the use of demoralizing stereotypes and use of derogatory words. For example, I really think that Nepali word "Ta" (equivalent to English word ´Thou´ and Hindi word ´Tum´) should be eliminated from public use in the public places. In my opinion the use of word ´Ta´ should be limited within the family tradition and perhaps in the rare occasion of literary works.
Of course, those who still care for Nepal can lead the horse to the water but cannot make him drink. For Buddha and Vedic teachers a receptor (candidate) who can perceive the significance of dialogue or commune gave hope for change. But those who worship them commune nothing for change except for misleading themselves with their teaching. In every aspect, the change for human condition in every society is vital. But still with the care of the world Nepal remains adamant with its status quo – be a feudal Brahminists or an ideologue communist or all knowing ruling elite then people´s hope for change will demoralized as usual.
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