Vijayadashami or Dashara or Dussehra or Dasain

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रुकुम, कार्तिक १३ -
तकसेराको एक गुम्बामा यहाँका बौद्ध धर्मावलम्बी र हिन्दुले सँगै दसैँ मनाएका छन् । दुवै धर्मको सम्मान गर्दै दशमीको दिनदेखि कोज्रागत पूणिर्मासम्म नाचगान र टीकाटाला गर्दै हिन्दु र बौद्ध धर्मावलम्बीले सँगै दसैँ मनाएका हुन् ।

ढोरपाटन सिकार आरक्षभित्र पर्ने ढोरपाटन गुम्बामा हिन्दु र बौद्ध धर्मावलम्बीले मान्यजनको हातबाट टीका थाप्दै नाचगानसहित दसैँ मनाएको बौद्ध भिक्षु कर्ण लामाले बताए । ५ दिनसम्म मनाइएको सामूहिक दसैँमा १ सय ५० भन्दा बढी स्थानीय हिन्दु र बौद्ध धर्मावलम्बीले दसैँ मनाएको लामाले जनाए । 'दसैँलाई आत्मीयता बाँड्ने, भाइचारा बढाउने र धार्मिक सहिष्णुता प्रदर्शन गर्ने अवसरका रूपमा मनाएका छौँ,' उनले भने, 'विजयादशमीदेखि पूणिर्मासम्म दुवै धर्मावलम्बीले सँगै नाचगानसमेत गर्‍यौँ ।' सामूहिक दसैँ मनाउँदा आपसी भ्रातृत्व र एकअर्काबीचको धार्मिक आस्थाको कदर हुने भन्दै सामूहिक दसैँ मनाइएको स्थानीयले जनाएका छन् । बौद्ध धर्मावलम्बीले अहिंसा अँगाल्ने भएकाले यसपालि सामूहिक दसैँ मनाउनेले बलि नदिएरै साकाहारी दसैँ मनाए । बुद्ध धर्मावलम्बीसँगै हिन्दुले साकाहारी दसैँ मनाएर नयाँ सन्देश दिन खोजेको लामाले जनाए ।

प्रकाशित मिति: २०६९ कार्तिक १४ ०८:५७

Vijayadashami or Dashara or Dussehra or Dasain is celebrated by people in their own way throughout Nepal despite of their caste, religion, culture and practices. Different communities have linked it with their own historical events--Hindus have linked it with the victory of good over evil; Buddhists have taken it as an occasion when king Ashoka turned into Budhhist…etc..etc..Vijayadashami is celebrated not only in Nepal but also in India and Bangladesh. This festival is known with different names in different parts of the world as: (Bengali: বিজয়াদশমী, Kannada: ವಿಜಯದಶಮಿ, Malayalam: വിജയദശമി, Marathi: विजयादशमी, Nepali: विजया दशमी, Oriya: ବିଜୟାଦଶମୀ, Tamil: விஜயதசமி, Telugu: విజయదశమి, Konkani: दसरो, Punjabi: ਦਸੇਰਾ) also known as Dashahara, Dussehra, Dashain (in Nepal), Navratri or Durgotsav is one of the most important Hindu festivals celebrated in various forms, across India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

The name Dussehra is derived from Sanskrit Dasha-hara literally means remover of ten referring to Lord Rama's victory over the ten-headed demon king Ravana.^[1] The day also marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the demons Mahishasur. The name Vijayadashami is also derived from the Sanskrit words "Vijaya-dashmi" literally meaning the victory on the dashmi (Dashmi being the tenth lunar day of the Hindu calendar month).

Read more from Wikipedia

Common good politics vs. Identity politics

Quoting The Free Dictionary, the meaning of identity is 'the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group.' Similarly, identity politics is: Political attitudes or positions that focus on the concerns of social groups identified mainly on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. This means that 'all politics is identity politics' as Ann Friedman argued in one of her articles in American Prospect, July 29, 2010. She argues that even Barack Obama's 'Yes we can!' slogan is an example of 'identity politics.' In our national context, the identity politics rules the roost no matter what the issue is: gender, class, community, or politics. Prof. Om Gurung, in an interview recently with My Republica, reiterated that 'identity became the focus of the movement between 1990 and 2001. However, it was soon realized that identity alone is not enough. So the Janajatis fought for identity with rights, such as right to proportional representation till 2006. But lately, with realization that such changes are not possible on the existing unitary system, the focus is on radical restructuring of the state based on identity.'

Read more:

All politics is identity politics

Rise in Gurkha Regiment Strength

2/5 Gorkha Rifles was in Iraq during 1917 AD

Gorkhas are legendary soldiers in the world. They are famous for their unchallenged level of bravery and honesty. They are better known and associated with their sharp blade 'khukuri'.

In his Foreword of IInd volume of History of the Fifth Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), Field Marshal W. J. Slim writes:

"…Between the 1940 and 1945 I had the good fortune to have serving under me in various theaters of war all four battalions of the 5^th Gurkhas. They were always among my best fighting battalions and unsurpassed for discipline and turn-out, even in ther most difficult conditions. They held a pride in themselves and in their Regiment that was magnificent and unshakeable.

All who served with them recognized the 5^th Gurkhas as a splendid example of what a Gurkha Regiment can be—and that there is no higher praise. We know that to equal them in anything was to e very good indeed at it; to surpass them to be all that and have a slice of luck too.

We, their old comrades, will read this history with a glow of pride that we served with them and of sorrow that, while the 5^th Gurkhas still march on with their glories untarnished, it is, alas! no longer at our side."

At the end of this history book, the epilogue by R. L. Turner, 1930, reads:

"As I write these last words my thoughts return to you who were my comrades, the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal. Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouacs or about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun. Uncomplaining, you endure hunger and thirst and wounds; and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and wrath o f battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you."

Sant Bahadur Pun has been writing articles on Gorkhas for Magar Studies Center's Journal. I would like to introduce the following paragraph from one of his articles, 'An autopsy of an ode to Gurkhas', on Gorkha soldiers. He writes:

After the bitter 1857 experience, Britain was determined to maintain a strong Gurkha Brigade in her Indian army. For this they needed fresh recruits annually from Nepal. Jung, however, was reluctant to supply these recruits as this would have not only expanded British influence but adversely affect his hold over Nepal as well. He, thus, refused to allow Gurkhas, on home leave, to wear their uniforms in Nepal and also strongly objected to recruiting parties (gallawalas) entering Nepal under any guise.23 So from 1878 the skilful British adopted the “guns for recruits” policy whereby fresh recruits from Nepal were acquired by supplying the guns/ammunition needed by the Nepalese army or by simply refusing to give recognition to the new Prime Minister24. This policy worked because when Bir Shumshere came to power after assassinating his own uncle, Ranoddip, in 1885 “He permitted the free enlistment of Gurkha recruits for the Native Army in India.”25 This signaled the first official recognition by Nepal of Gurkha recruitment into the British Indian army and Britain quickly expanded her Gurkha Brigade from five to ten regiments26. The policies of British India and the Rana government of Nepal, thus, fueled the “exclusion/expulsion” process of the “matwales” further. The Khas are recruited for the 9th Regiment while the Limbus and Rais are recruited into the 7th and 10th Regiments. For the rest of the other seven Regiments “almost the only men enlisted are Magars and Gurungs”.27 Vansittart, who had a penchant for details, gives an interesting figure of 36,107 recruits from Nepal recruited during the period 1894/’95 to 1912/’13.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Kfpcv89IA9q0k85PjFenfn5ghaMEP9tgRND8y-jJS4/edit

Memorable moments to cherish

I, along with then SSP Rohit Thapa, had the honour of escorting His Royal Highness Crown Prince to the villages of Kaski and Parvat districts. His Royal Highness was to have a day-long trekking-cum- inspection of some of the projects including drinking water and schools in the area. I still remember the lesson taught by His Royal Highness about keeping the trekking route clean of even small thrown-away wrappers of food and water. His Royal Highness had not only carried his lunch bag on his back but also picked up small pieces of papers and pocketed them in contrary to the mess that the minister for education Sarbendra Nath Shukla and his party had strewn at the site. His body guard carried the lunch packet for the minister throughout the way to the villages. We all Nepali should learn lessons to keep the environment clean of mess from the Royal guest.

Bidding farewell to His Royal Highness Crown Prince at Pokhara airport when I was DIG

National Seminar on Magar Identity

July 15, 2012
Chaired a session of 'National Seminar on Magar Identity' organized by Magar Academic Group on 14 July at Nagarkot, Bhaktaour. Two papers were presented in this session:

Origin, arrival, and expansion of Magar by Fatik Thapa and Territory of Magarat and Trends of Naming by Chhabilal Chidi Maagar. I suggested few things at the end of the session:

1.       Avoid repeating old data—need to do research beyond the known areas.

2.       Share research findings with wider circle of researchers: inter-caste groups, national and international groups. It is important to validate our research findings and update what others have found out

3.       Understanding the limitations of research—it can only direct, lead or indicate towards truth but it cannot prove anything as in mathematics or physical science.