Kathmandu, Chaukhath maathi hindu samuh ko akraman.
On 05 August 2014, Chaukath organized a picnic discussion on ‘Women’s
access to and security in public spaces’ at Shanti Batika in Ratnapark.
Chaukath is an informal and unfunded network of women which analyzes
politics, society, and media through a feminist lens. Our peaceful
discussion was ongoing when supporters of a group calling itself the
‘Vedic Sanathan Hindu Rastriya Nepal Sanstagat Sangarsha Samiti’ began
repeatedly disrupting the picnic with taunts and threats. The group
which has been staging a relay hunger strike for some months threatened
us to leave Shanti Batika immediately. Despite their threats, we
continue to respectfully negotiate with them and carried on the program.
To protect against rain, we had set up a white 4 X 4 tent in Shanti
Batika. We had also discussed the event with the police. We had no
banners, slogans, or demands. Nor were we at Shanti Batika to stage a
sit-in. Aware of our intentions and having observed our peaceful
behavior, the gathered police themselves advised us to continue our
discussion and tried to control the other group. But the struggle
committee was determined to create communal strife. Threatening us with
death, they falsely accused us of having gathered to preach the
Christian faith. They called us characterless women and told us to take
our picnic home. Ultimately, they uprooted and broke our tent. They
jumped into the middle of the circle shoving our members and throwing
away our snacks. The death threats continued throughout. The guru of the
struggle committee threatened us wielding a full-size trident (trisul).
The situation was very tense despite the best efforts of the police team
lead by DSP Rajkumar Silwal. In order to prevent the situation from
spiraling out of control, we peacefully left Shanti Batika. The struggle
committee loudly celebrated our exit and continuing to shout threats as
we left.
The Hindu religion does not condone such inhuman behavior,
fear-mongering, and violence. This fringe group is misusing Hinduism and
insulting Hindus everywhere. Their end goal is clearly to spark communal
violence in Nepal.
This incident clearly demonstrates that public spaces are inaccessible
and unsafe for many communities. Women as well as Nepalis of different
classes, regions, genders, castes, ethnicities, and religions are made
to feel unwelcome. We would like to highlight two points regarding this
incident:
1. It is clear that many Nepalis as individuals and as groups are
actively kept out of public spaces. At Shanti Batika, our small group of
15, mostly women, was surrounded by a group of about 50 men at all
times. These men stared at us and taunted us continually. Some men in
the crowd even said we must be foreigners as Nepali women lacked the
ability and courage to claim public spaces so unapologetically.
2. Extremist groups like the struggle committee want to take away the
rights of individuals and communities to gather in public spaces. Such
extremists groups defy the spirit of People’s Movement II, oppose the
vision of a ‘new Nepal’, and want to prevent the country from becoming a
Federal Democratic Republic.
We strongly condemn this incident. No community has a monopoly over
public spaces. We also urge security forces, civil society, rights
activists, political parties, and the government to pay attention to
this sensitive issue. Most importantly, we urge all Nepalis to stand in
solidarity with each other to ensure such incidents are never again
repeated.
(For additional information on the incident contact
chaukathnetwork@gmail.com <mailto:chaukathnetwork@gmail.com> or DSP
Rajkumar Silwal at 9851283384.)