Kathmandu fixing what ain’t broke

The Nepal government, which has done a dismal job mismanaging public sector cement plants, trolley buses, cloth and shoe factories, and many more, decided  to nationalise the ancient Guthi system of community trusts managing festivals and shrines.

The residents of the Kathmandu Valley are well aware of the government’s poor track record. They were already outraged by homes being bulldozed to widen roads, and  holy places being excavated for highways. Plus, the government was unable and unwilling to deliver water supply and clean Kathmandu’s polluted air. Instead, it tried to fix something was not broken: the Guthi system. That was the last straw.

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The people of the Valley set aside party affiliation and showed unity in numbers because this is the only language the rulers in Kathmandu seem to understand. While the initial demand was to scrap the Guthi Bill, by Wednesday’s march the protestors want more: the resignation of ministers who called the Guthi system “feudal” and labeled demonstrators as “hired crowds”.

The anger stemmed from the fact that one of the ministers was from a community that has benefited from the caste system, while another was from a group that has been the victim of the tradition of bonded labour in west Nepal.

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Many of us are members of Guthi set up by our ancestors. Us Chitrakars make colourful dance masks for the Valley’s numerous festivals, paint paubha, temples, stupas, and the eyes on the wheels of the great chariots before they roll.

The Guthi system evolved from as a result of the agricultural surplus from Kathmandu Valley’s fertile soil. We had beyond what we needed to live, and dedicated this to maintain a globally unique system to sustain our culture.

A positive aspect of the protests was the way people took responsibility for their actions. No one stepped on the sacred mandala at Maitighar, there were people offering water and flowers to riot police on duty, the crowd parted to let ambulances pass, there was music and dancing, there were no political party flags but plenty of Nepali flags.

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And the best part was that there was a clean-up campaign at the end that left the venue cleaner than it was before. This week, we set a whole new standard for future protests, and there is proof that the Guthi system and Nepal’s heritage are in good hands.

Let us hope that the government elected by the people, and supposedly for the people has learned its lesson, and the state applies restraint in future while deploying riot police to suppress peaceful demonstrators. One day they will also be on the other side with the people. The PM, who does not seem to have a sense of when and what to say, asked protestors disparagingly not to go to go running to Maitighar at the first sign of trouble. The name of the Mandala Square comes from a movie of the same name, and literally connotes the parental home of a married woman.

Perhaps the only thing that will save the prime minister from a political backlash in Kathmandu is that his wife is from the Newa community. Time will tell how the Newa will assert their new unity. Gone are the days when Valley’s educated middle class will stay on the sidelines and watch the decline of this country and its culture.

The young people are going to be responsible and hold rulers accountable. They have set an example by showing their patriotism, and also by demonstrating that they are not out to make a quick buck or grab a piece of land at the expense of their heritage.

The Guthi has effectively conserved Nepal’s globally unique built and cultural heritage for a thousands years or more. There are short term thinkers who are motivated by greed and ignorance to get the land/assets associated with this ancient system. The recent protest and ‘people power’ has set these people back for a while. But the greed is not gone, and we have to be constantly vigilant.

Anil Chitrakar is the President of Siddharthinc