Stop 500000 animal sacrifice in Nepal, 24 Nov 2009

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You might have heard the Nepal news about the 500,000 animals that are going to be sacrificed over two days on 24th November (Ghaddimai animal sacrifice festival, happens every five years in the terrai).

The Buddha boy wrote to the organizers asking them not to do it but his request was rejected. It is a big Hindu festival and now the Buddha boy is thinking to go there and try to stop it. I think unless one has special powers to show, people will not listen. It is a big religion with not 100 or 1000 followers but millions. Now it seems to have become a problem in Nepal like the problem with shoes and the Hindus in Pashupati. Now probably no matter what the reality is they will think it is the Buddhists who are making problems.

My observation shows that the Buddhaboy won't be able to stop it. Possibly some animal rights organisations might be able to help, but it's not sure. If western organisations and people like Nobel Peace (laureates) ask, maybe could help, but it would need many.

It came out good to read the Golden Light Sutra 100 times so i have asked Kopan gompa to send some monks to read it at the stupa and make strong prayers for the sacrifice not to happen, to dedicate like that and of course dedicate for world peace. You can find the Sutra in various languages here:
English http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advic ... 0207a4.pdf
Tibetan http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advic ... tibetn.pdf

I would like to request the centers and students to read the Golden Light Sutra and recite the Padmasambhava prayer for removing obstacles and for quick success, for the sacrifice not to happen. This needs to be done quickly as the sacrifice is happening on 24th November. You can find the Padmasambhava prayer here:
http://www.fpmt. org/teachers/zopa/advice/ pdf/Padmasambava%20prayer%20to% 20clear%20obstacles% 20feb05km. pdf

Please recite any number of the Golden Light Sutra and the Padmasambhava prayer for removing obstacles and for quick success.

With much love and prayers
Lama Zopa

http://www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/

Prayer to Guru Rinpoche to Clear Away Obstacles on the Path

Precious guru, embodiment of all buddhas of the three times;
Great bliss, the lord of all accomplishments;
Wrathful power, who dispels all hindrances and subdues demons;
Pray bestow your blessings.
Please remove the outer, inner, and secret obstacles and grant your blessings to accomplish wishes spontaneously.

Du sum sang gyay guru rinpoche
Ngo drup kun dak de wa chhen poi zhap
Bar chhad kun sel dud dul drak po tsal
Sol wa deb so jyin gyiy lap tu sol
Chhyi nang sang wai bar chhad zhi wa dang
Sam pa lhun gyi drup par jyin gyi lob

When, due to the obstacles of the elements earth, water, fire and wind,
This illusory body, which is rented, is meeting the time to be perished,
Requesting undoubtedly, without two pointed mind to Padmasambhava and the
Goddess of the Elements, [there is] no doubt the four elements get naturally pacified.
I request, Orgyen, the One Arising From the Lotus (Orgyen Pädma Chung Nä),
Please bless the wishes to succeed naturally.

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PÄDMA SIDDHI HUM (Recite many times)

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Ignoring the protests raised by animal rights groups and religious organisations, preparations are on full swing for what is said to be the world's biggest animal sacrifice in Gadhimai Temple of Bara district, 200 km south of Kathmandu.More than 500,000 people, mostly from India, have already made their way to the venue to witness the sacrifice of 500,000 animals on November 24, 25 and 26, according to media reports.

The festival which is held once in five years registered a presence of five million people the last time it was held. More than 75 percent visitors are from various parts of India such as Kashi, Patna, Bihar, Sitamadhi, Jharkhand and Samastipur.Some 1,200 people, including members of Bramhin and Rana community, have sought permission to slaughter animals with the Buffalo Sacrifice Management Committee, says its chief Moti Lal Shah. Around 10,000 buffaloes are already registered to be sacrificed.

Buddha boy Ram Bahadur Bamjan has been fasting for months against the sacrifice and Bramha Kumari Raj Yog, a religious group, has launched a public campaign against the temple festival. People sacrifice animals as an offering they promise to their deities for successful completion of a task.Various animals like goats, buffaloes, ducks, chickens and pigs will be sacrificed at the venue, which spreads across a 5 km radius of the three century old temple in Bariyarpur village of the district.

The applicants need to fill up forms, along with a copy of their citizenship certificate and deposit Rs 200 each to take part in the sacrifice.They are also required to pay a fee ranging between Rs 20 to Rs 100 for slaughtering animals on their own. The government has deployed thousands of personnel from the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force for security purposes to prevent any untoward incident during the five-yearly festival.

More than 1,000 policemen would be on alert round the clock in the area during the festival.Despite the hue and cry raised by various rights groups against the animal sacrifice, the government has remained silent in the matter. The government officials have refused to interfere in the centuries old religious traditions.

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A group of Buddhists from Nepal as well as animal rights organisations have begun urging India’s state administrations and animal welfare organisations to help prevent the slaughter of thousands of birds and animals as Nepal’s government said it would not ban a Hindu festival in the Terai plains for fear of ruffling religious sentiments.‘We have asked the administration of India’s Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states, which border Nepal, as well as other bordering Indian states to prevent the smuggling of animals and birds from India to Nepal with the intention of slaughtering them at the Gadhimai Fair,’ said D.B. Bomjan, chairman of the Tamang Rastriya Mukti Morcha, an NGO from an indigenous community that is Buddhist by religion.

Bomjan said that Nepal’s animal rights organisations have also asked their counterparts in India to help create mass awareness and stop hundreds of Hindus from travelling to Nepal’s Bara district across the border at the end of this month to take part in a religious festival they are describing as the ‘largest animal killing fields in the world’.
The plea came after Nepal’s communist-led coalition government declined to intervene in the festival at the Gadhimai Temple in Bara, scheduled to start from Nov 24.

The festival, held once in five years, has grown in notoriety due to the growing mass animal slaughter at the altar of the goddess. This year, the organisers of the festival say about 500,000 birds and animals will be killed.

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Hundreds of Buddhists and animal rights activists are protesting against the Hindu festival of Gadhimai Mela in Bayapur, Bara district (southeastern Nepal). During the event, half a million animals will be slaughtered. More than a million Hindu pilgrims are expected to gather for the occasion on 25 November. Nepali authorities have deployed more than 12,000 police officers.

Gadhimai Mela is one of the most important festivities on the Hindu calendar and the largest sacrificial happening in the world. It usually lasts a week, ending on the third Friday of November.During the celebrations, the faithful sacrifice animals like buffaloes, sheep and chickens in honour of the god Gadhimai. According to Hindu belief, such offerings reduce the god’s anger, and bring people luck and prosperity.

However, Bara district is also a major Buddhist pilgrimage site. This is where Ram Bahadur Bomjan, known as the living reincarnation of the Buddha, meditates year round.At present, hundreds of Buddhists and activists are praying with him to stop the animal sacrifice.“The killing of animals in the name of sacrifice is the most serious crime. So it must be stopped immediately,” said Rinpoche Sange Rangjung, a Buddhist monk and protest leader. “In no religion are animal sacrifices prescribed”.Demonstrators, who are backed by French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot, are calling on the Nepali government to legislate in the matter to ban the practice in the future.

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Buddhist monk Ram Bahadur Bamjan, like thousands of animal rights activists at home and abroad, has thrown his lot behind a campaign to halt mass sacrifice of livestock at the Gadhimai Mela in Bara on November 24 and 25.The mela, which is held once is every five years, is arguably the world's largest mass slaughter of assorted animals and birds to propitiate Goddess Gadhimai.

Despite the intense protest in the run up to the event, the Gadhimai Mela Management Committee appointed 250 butchers three days ago to perform the sacrifice.Bamjan, who is expected to reach the mela venue tomorrow, will deliver a sermon against animal sacrifice. Raju Shah, member, Namobuddha Conservation Committee, said that though they were aware of his visit tomorrow, the exact time of his arrival was yet to be communicated to them.

Bamjan is slated to come to the shrine alone, which, incidentally, will be his maiden visit. Earlier, he had urged members of the mela committee to put an end to the mass sacrifice, and also invited them to his meditation venue at Ratanpur for talks. Throwing caution to the wind, the panel has, however, stuck to its stand, stating any deviation would be a departure from the age-old tradition.Tapoban Conservation Committee members pleaded ignorance about his programme tomorrow. Shah, too, was in the dark.Motilal Kushwaha, secretary, Gadhimai Mela Management Committee, said that preparations were in place to welcome the monk tomorrow.“We've absolutely no problem if he chooses to engage in spiritual discourse. But, we won't stop sacrifice at any cost,” he added.

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Ram Bahadur Bamjan, the Buddha boy, did not turn up at the Gadhimai festival on Friday though he had promised ´to stop the animal sacrifice´ at the festival.Bamjan, who had left his place of penance at Halkhoriya on Thursday, did not show up to stop the sacrificial killings at the festival on November 24-25. News of his possible arrival and his promise to stop the slaughter at any cost had led to the administration mobilizing additional forces to prevent any untoward incident.
He was expected to arrive between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. and a large number of journalists and devotees had waited for him through Thursday night. There were rumors that the Buddha boy would start his penance at the place of sacrifices in front of the Gadhimai temple.

“We have planned to stop him from coming to the vicinity of the sacrificial spot, out of security considerations,” a police officer deputed there said. “If he tries to get in forcefully, we will take him under control and bring him out of the security cordon,” he added.There has been speculation that the recent security arrangements made Bamjan change his mind. The security cordon had been strengthened during the night to stop him from coming to the sacrificial spot. Around 1,200 security personnel including police and armed police were deployed in the area.Bamjan has been vehemently opposing the mass killings for the past six weeks and news of his visit to Gadhimai was announced through pamphlets and local FM radio.The Tapowan Committee, which makes arrangements at the site of Bamjan´s penance, maintains on the other hand that Bamjan would turn up any time before Friday midnight. “We had expected him to arrive in the morning. We will probably get to see him before midnight,” Raju Sah, a member of the committee, said. The committee, however, did not disclose the route Bamjan will take to reach the temple which is 30 km from the site of his penance.

Preparations for the festival have been completed despite vehement protests from national and international activists, according to the main organizing committee. The committee has appointed 250 persons for the sacrificial killings and claims that around 10,000 buffaloes can be sacrificed.Chief priest at Gadhimai Mangal Chaudhary claimed that the sacrificial offerings will be made whether Bamjan arrives or not. “There have been concerns about this following news reports of his possible arrival. But this age-old tradition would not be stopped at any cost,” Chaudhary said.

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In 2002, a year after he ascended the throne following the assassination of his elder brother King Birendra, King Gyanendra had visited India where animal rights activists protested against his offering panchabali – five sacrifices at the Kamakshya temple in Assam Shah, who was educated in Delhi’s Army Public School and studied in Mumbai’s Sophiya College for two years, says her inspiration is former Indian minister and animal rights campaigner Maneka Gandhi.

Gandhi has already written to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, urging him to prevent the wanton killings. “Many people in Nepal and the subcontinent are concerned about this sacrifice,” she wrote. “Your government has taken so many humane steps – banning the export of monkeys, for instance. Since you have introduced the Meat Act, which makes the humane killing of animals mandatory, these acts during the Gadhimai Festival would be illegal.”
Shah is hoping that Gandhi will come to Nepal since a visit by her would give greater momentum to the campaign. “We are not against the Hindu religion,” she said. “We are against its perversions. No religion says that animals have to be sacrificed to appease god.”

At home, the campaign against the mass animal killings has been boosted by Nepal’s Buddha Boy Ram Bahadur Bomjan taking up cudgels on its behalf. Bomjan, who stunned the world five years ago when he was reported to be meditating without taking food or water, is asking the temple management as well as pilgrims and the district administration not to spill innocent blood in the birthplace of the Buddha, the apostle of peace.“The campaign is producing results,” said D B Bomjan, a prominent member of the Buddhist Tamang community to which the Buddha Boy belongs. “Three villagers have already handed over three buffalos to us, which were intended for sacrifice at the fair, saying they have had a change of heart.”

The former king’s kin is spearheading a passionate campaign to prevent animal sacrifices in the Terai temple.
“I stopped animal sacrifices at my parents’ house when I was eight,” says Pramada Shah nee Rana, whose grandfather Nir Shumsher Rana was a field marshall of the Nepal Army. “When I was married to Ashish Shah, King Gyanendra’s nephew, I realised animal sacrifices were deeply rooted in the family tradition. However, I have put an end to that too.”

Now her animal rights organisation Animal Welfare Network Nepal has grouped with animal activists in Nepal, India, France and the UK to begin a public campaign against the Gadhimai Temple fair starting from Nov 24, when the temple authorities say at least 500,000 birds and beasts will be slaughtered. The fair is held every five years when Hindu devotees from Jndia and Nepal gather to slaughter birds and animals for two days.

“The government must take immediate action to address the grave health risks of the mass sacrifice including bird and swine flu, TB and food poisoning,” Shah said. “If such mass sacrifices are still allowed in Nepal in the 21st century, it will send out the message to the world that we are still a barbaric nation.”

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“The government must take immediate action to address the grave health risks of the mass sacrifice including bird and swine flu, TB and food poisoning,” Shah said. “If such mass sacrifices are still allowed in Nepal in the 21st century, it will send out the message to the world that we are still a barbaric nation.”

We should have compassion for the humans who commit and encourage such acts, but I find it strange that not a word was uttered about the welfare of the animals or their potentially agonising deaths. Until the welfare of other beings is perceived as important then the nation will indeed be barbaric.

Those who kill to appease gods need help to escape from their ignorance.

I am an active supporter in animal welfare (especially dogs) and I used to feel both huge anger and sadness for the plight of animals. As a Buddhist I also feel compassion for those who main, torture and kill.

I once saw a man in India flog a horse 'to death'. I snatched his whip out of his hand and was angry and loud in condemning his cruelty. A short while later I understood, his violence to the horse was desperation driven by terror - the death of the horse meant he had no work, and his family would starve and die.

It's more easy then to feel compassion for his act. It is not easy to feel compassion for those engaged in animal sacrifice, but anger and protest is not the way. As with other 'Hindu' groups (it covers a huge range of beliefs and practices) it takes time to show them that offerings need not require killing. Until then, however hard, I am inclined to feel also compassion for their condition.