Kali Baba's self-immolation threat and religious discrimination in Nepal

A popular Nepali godman Kali Baba is outrageously making statements of self-immolation if Nepal is not declared a Hindu state.

His threat of self-immolation has been reported by the news media in Nepal and India with equal interest since the notion itself flares up the emotion. Is that a reasonable act to pursue one’s cause?

The godman has been in limelight for his nine-day long sahasra rudrachandi akhanda mahayagya that aimed to restore Nepal as a Hindu country. He was visited at Bankali by the former king Gyanendra Shah along with his wife Komal. Shah is reported to have supported the cause. Other high-profile visitors to the yagna have equally surprised the political pundits because the yagna was more political than religious.

Kali Baba, like many other Nepalese, is frustrated at the political turn of events. He is upset that "vandals and vagabonds" are entering the temple premises and beating up the priests; he believes that secularism is not the people’s demand; and, he is disappointed that the Maoists “did nothing for the country” despite their promises.

Now what Kali Baba is trying to attempt is to rescue the failed politics by religion. His conviction that monarchy alone can unite the nation was booted out in a popular mass movement couple years ago. Though his question on whether the process to declare the country as secular still remains valid, it is an action most likely to be undone.

Kali Baba’s yagya might have a religious and cultural appeal, but it cannot undermine the aspiration of Jana Andolan II. But what Kali Baba is doing now is thwarting the peace process by striving to assert the supremacy of religion over state. Such orthodox mistakes in the past have dragged the nation to the present turmoil.

Historically, Nepal has favored a religion that promotes discrimination. After the completion of the official unification of the country in 1769, Prithvi Narayan Shah declared Nepal a "garland" of "char jat and chattis varna" based on Hindu caste system. When the Civil Code was enacted by Junga Bahadur Rana in 1854, the vedic system of discrimination was further strengthened by classifying people in descending order and separating the tagadharis, matwalis and sudras. In 1962 when the Panchayat constitution was adopted, Nepal was declared a Hindu kingdom once again reinforcing discrimination based on religion. And now comes Kali Baba’s yagya in 2010 that again wants to put the Nepali people in the loop of discrimination.

At a time when the nation is debating to be inclusive, Kali Baba’s action incites extremist feelings in one religious community. The Hindus form a majority in Nepal, but that doesn’t mean the religion should dominate the state. Most wars around the world are fought today because of religious reasons.

Luckily, Nepal has maintained an image of a tolerant society where Buddhists, Muslims and Christians have largely felt secure. But if the emotions of the Hindus are allowed to be played with in the name of religious rites to secure a political goal, we might soon witness discontentment in the streets expressed by other religious communities.

The issue of self-immolation is another sensitive matter. Self-immolation is a powerful tool to express the message of discontent. In recent decades there have been deliberate acts of self-immolation to highlight a cause.

On 11 June 1963 Thich Quang Duc self-immolated in a busy intersection in Saigon, Vietnam, protesting the persecution of the Buddhists by South Vietnam’s administration. The monk had written to the government and told the members of his Buddhist community about the religious oppression at the hands of Catholic Jean Baptiste Ngo Dinh Diem. Duc’s self-immolation captured the sentiment of the time for more political protests that ultimately changed the regime. Several other self-immolations followed the incident.

Other incidents in the sub-continent have sparked wide protests.

In 1990 a student from Delhi University attempted to self-immolate against the implementation of the Mandal Commission that recommended reservations and quotas for backward communities.

On 29 January 2009 K. Muthukumar self-immolated to protest the killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Some people of the Tamil origin around the world were inspired to follow suit. In fact, one person self-immolated in front of the United Nations Office in Geneva.

On 21 February 2010 Siripur Yadaiah self-immolated in Hyderabad shouting pro-Telangana slogans. A note found in his pocket revealed he was prepared to give up his life for the cause of a separate Telangana state.

There are numerous such gory incidences of self-immolation that have been planned and warned about. Kali Baba’s threat should be taken within this context.

Nepal is barely catching up to practice the basic democratic ideals. We should be cognizant of the fact that such threats and actions don’t impede our march toward the much sought after peace. There are other religious issues that Kali Baba or people of influence could work upon.

For instance, we ought to scrap the law that considers religious conversion an offense, or the slaughter of cows as punishable by 18 years in prison, or the rampant discrimination in the name of "untouchables.”

Other nuanced forms of discrimination that exist in our households also need to be stopped, such as promotion of fatalism, chaupadi, men-worship in Teej and Swasthani.

Religious leaders have tremendous tasks ahead to preserve the values of religion while at the same time weeding out practices that compromise equality. The influence of Kali Baba should be used to promote harmony and tolerance.

It is in the best interest of a nation to keep religion away from the state affairs.

Published on March 13, 2010 at newpalnews.com.
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Read how Kalidas Dahal tricked his way to be known as Kali Baba in Himal published on 28 Mar-13 Apr 2010 (१६-३१ चैत २०६६). Also visit his Web site here where he makes false claims about his age, education and his father's legacy.

Image of Kali Baba's bogus Web site.