Newars and monarchy have been so close to each-other for two thousand years that they seem to be two sides of a coin. Now, time has come for us to think what monarchy has given to us.
It is not a matter of question whether the Newars (as a community) participated in the Jana Antolan II or not. The reality we cannot run away from is that the change has come. The king is paid for what he had done and now he is nowhere. Whether we like it or not, we have to accept this reality, being citizens of this very country.
A series of historic changes have come in past two years or so. The king is devoid of every right, which he used to boast as divine. His chair is no more polished in the Parliament and his shoes are not polished in the royal palace. But it seems that the Newars are still fond of this very king, or generally speaking, the Shah monarchy.
What we see is that if Newars believe in any political system, it is monarchy (of Gyanendra's type) and if the king trusts anybody as saviors, they have to be the Newars. That is why the king is now surrounded by the Newars and if there are any who are ready to chant "Sri Panch Maharajdhiraj ko Jay", they are the Newars.
One of the reasons the Newars are attached to the monarchy is their love for culture. They believe that the Newar culture is a donation of the Shah kings and the culture cannot sustain without the king's "ashirbad". Is it really true?
Let us take the example to this Dashain, or say, "Mohani". The king made his ritual pilgrimage around Shakti piths during the Dashain (including the Nawadurga temple in Bhaktapur) and there were stereotype group of Newars to welcomed him and did the century-old "chakadi". And I was surprised to see some Newars going to Narayan Hiti Darbar in the evening with their dhimays to received Tika from him. When the whole country have forgotten what relation they used to have with the king, how come the handful of Newars are still not ready to accept the great historical change and transformation of power?
It is sure that those handfuls of blind devotees are not to be blamed. They are indeed guided by the some very skilled, experienced and old Rajabadi Newar leaders. The crux is the problem – you can find pro-royalist Newars everywhere in Newar organizations – from Nepalbhasha Mankaa Khalaa to Ganatantrik Newa Morcha. In this situation, it is very difficult to make a plan to say anything against the king and for the sake fo the people's sovereignty.
Our blind devotion to powerless king is going to take us nowhere and if, it is certainly to a marsh. And our future generation is sure to curse us for our mistake that will be a cause for their embarrassment.
So, we have to think seriously and made a historic decision now. If we want to live in this very country and keep the glorious image or our century old heritage, we have to accept the truth and try to continue our culture without the king who will soon be no more.
Let us be clear that it was not the Shah kings who give continuity to our culture but we, the Newars ourselves who enlivened it despite political and economic hurdles. If the Shah kings have done anything in past 238 years, they only destroyed, shattered and torn our culture apart. Let's imagine of our culture where there will be no king but all people will live like the kings have lived in past two centuries. Subhay.
Showing posts with label monarchy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monarchy. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2007
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