Do Kumari System Violates Human Rights?

In the last couple of days Nepal’s unique culture of worshipping Kumari, the living goddess, drew widespread national and international media coverage after the Supreme Court ordered the government to investigate into whether the practice of worshipping a virgin girl violates the rights of the young girls.

Do you agree with petitioner Pun Devi Maharjan, who has said, in the writ petition filed at the apex court that the centuries-old tradition curtails girls’ rights to individual freedom including education, health, sports, entertainment and privacy?

She added such restrictions will have a physical and psychological effect on the girl.

The Nepalese tradition involves pre-pubescent girls from the Shakya caste of the Newari community undergoing rigorous tantric rituals to be designated as a Kumari, or a living Hindu virgin goddess, until puberty is reached.

The chosen girl is then whisked away for a new life in a temple — missing out on normal life and allowed only limited contact with family members.

There are several Kumaris in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom, although the best known is the royal Kumari — who lives near Kathmandu’s temple-studded Basantapur Durbar Square and blesses the king during the annual Indrajatra festival.

Although Shakya families living in Kathmandu see it as an honour to have their child chosen as a goddess, some human rights activists have complained that the girls are essentially deprived of any childhood.

The court has ordered the Ministry of Culture to form a committee and prepare a report within three months to look into the alleged rights abuses and exploitation of girls.

The order follows a petition filed last year by Maharjan, who argued the tradition was a violation of individual freedom.

“The living standards of Kumari girls have improved over the past few years. Although they can’t get all the facilities that a normal girl enjoys, they do get a personal tutor for education,” AFP news agency quoted Hemraj Subedi, an administrator at the Guthi Sansthan as saying.

Subedi said all former Kumaris were provided with a monthly pension of 6,000 rupees (80 dollars).

Cultural expert Satya Mohan Joshi said some reforms were needed to ensure the rights of girls living as Kumaris, but he argued the tradition should be maintained to preserve Nepal’s cultural identity.

“As they have to live a normal life once they retire, they should not be deprived of the facilities one enjoys during childhood,” said Joshi, chancellor of Nepal Bhasha Academy, a group working to preserve and promote Newari cultural heritage in the capital.

A Kumari girl cannot be compared with the normal girl. She is believed to have a divine power,” he said.

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