The Water Festival in Myanmar

April in Myanmar means Thinngyan, the Water Festival, a brilliantly colorful occasion the last three days before Myanmar’s New Year Day. Old and young, the people of Myanmar celebrate Thinngyan by throwing water at each other to help cleanse away the old year’s sins and evil to prepare for the coming of the New Year in their country.

During this fun festival, there is also a time to focus on religion, going to the temples and pagodas and doing good deeds for one another. Many families will cook for their neighborhood monks and help their elders with hygiene and other physical chores, as well as donating money for good causes.

As with many other New Year festivals, Thinngyan brings families together to eat, play and share their happiness with others. During this festival, there is no work done, so families can travel to join family members or prepare for visits from their own families at their home. They use this time to make food and sweep away the old year, enjoy traditional games and music, and pay homage to their monks.

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Dalit Girl Thrown into Fire by Upper Caste Men

Her pregnant mother severely thrashed while trying to rescue her daughter from flames!

World woke up to the gruesome and spine-chilling story of Kamlesh, a six year old little girl from dalit community in UP, who was tossed into the burning fire by the members from upper caste community in her village three years ago. Her crime: she walked by the house of an upper caste family early in the morning, to go to the open field, the only space the dalit community has to heed the nature's call. Justice denied, accused acquainted, critically wounded, skins cracking and right elbow crippled.

Her fully pregnant mother Manju tried to snatch her from the roaring flames but was stopped by the culprits who stood there to prevent any rescue attempt. They thrashed and beaten her severely. She collapsed to the ground watching flames licking her daughter to death before falling unconscious. She regained consciousness few minutes later and managed to pull her daughter out of the fire. But by then she suffered more than 80% burns and was at the brink of death.

While little Kamlesh battled for her life, five critical hours have been wasted at a government hospital. And after 36 hours she was moved to a bigger hospital before she was finally moved to the Safdarjung hospital in Delhi. Lack of proper treatment at critical hours meant she wouldn't make normal recovery. Three years later, her right hand is a piece of dead rubber having lost mobility and function. Her left hand and right leg burnt severely and she suffer from searing pain. The scars inside her are as fearsome and permanent. A tender, innocent life has been violated and nipped in the bud.

The incident so traumatized her mother, Manju, that she suffered a mental break down and would not recover to testify in the court against the culprits later. None of the neighbors who witnessed the brutal act would come forward to testify against the culprits with muscle power, influence and connections in high places. Many were forced to compromise and others were intimated into silence. Kamlesh's father Saudan says, "Names of four culprits were registered with police. But names of three were removed and only one was arrested. We were forced to withdraw the complaint."

Justice was not only delayed but denied and subverted. It was made to serve the perpetrators! No fair investigation and no protection for the witnesses meant case would fall apart and justice would not be served.

A fact finding team led by Dr. John Dayal - member of National Integration Council, Madhu Chandra - Regional Secretary of All India Christian Council, Vidhya Bhushan Rawat - Social Activist and Anil Chamadia - Seniour Jounalist and Dalit Activist visited the village two months ago was shocked to learn that court had closed the case as there were no witnesses to testify against the culprits. Kamlesh's mother Manju was mentally unstable to appear and testify and all the accused walked out free. It was like rubbing salt into the wound for Kamlesh's family. No justice, no medical assistance, no future. Help from the state government was more a token gesture than real. The incident further deepened their bleak financial condition. They borrowed money from friends and money lenders to treat their daughter which further plunged them into crisis. Victim is further victimized.

This is just an example of the discrimination and oppression millions of dalits suffer daily in India. They suffer in silence and submission. Any form of challenging the system will be fatal and dangerous. Caste lines are not be crossed or violated. A local Dalit activist and leader of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organistations told the fact finding team, "For years, Dalit community in the village has been on the receiving end of caste discrimination and neglect. This is the first instance where police have at least arrested the culprits."

Kamlesh is now nine years old and future doesn't hold much hope for her unless we step in and help. She needs proper medical treatment to regain the use of her hands and extensive plastic surgery to mend her scars before she can face the world.


By Madhu Chandra
Regional Secretary of All India Christian Council

Husband killed wife and dead body shown on webcam

A man who strangled his pregnant wife and showed her dead body to his father in Romania using a webcam has been arrested here, authorities said.

The incident occurred Monday in the Madrid suburb of Torrejon de Ardoz and the arrest was facilitated by Romanian police.

The killer from Romania, identified only as D.M., strangled his wife, also Romanian, Madrid police commander Emilio Alcazar told a press conference Tuesday.

The 19-year-old victim apparently told her husband that she intended to break off their relationship and said that the child she was expecting was not his.

After strangling her, the man contacted his father in Romania by Internet and using a webcam showed him his wife's body.

He also told his father that when his wife's 13-year-old sister got home, he was going to kill her too.

It was D.M.'s father who alerted Romanian police to the homicide, and they in turn notified the Spanish police.

Spanish police officers went to the couple's home and after they rang several times, D.M. opened the door. Inside they found the woman's body on the bed and the victim's sister, who had just returned home and was unhurt.

When she got home the younger girl apparently asked where her sister was and D.M. told her that she was asleep.

The suspect made no resistance when he was arrested, but has so far declined to give a statement.

The victim's sister, for her part, has gone to live with her mother, who also lives in Spain.

This death brings to 17 the number of women murdered in incidents of domestic violence in Spain to date in 2011.

Shajibu Cheiraoba- Celebration of Continuity

Shajibu Cheiraoba is a sacred and pious socio-religious celebration of the Meeteis observed every year on Shajibu Nongma Panba (in the month of April). The celebration marks the departure of the old year and welcoming of the New Year. On this occasion, houses are renovated and white washed to celebrate the arrival of new season, which marks a rekindling of the spirit of life.

Cheiraoba is an introspection and retrospection- searching and evolving new resolutions for the coming year. Before taking the grand feast, people offer fresh vegetables, fresh fish and cooked vegetarian food at the gate of every household to the Gods and forefathers. After offering to the gods and goddesses, the food items are exchanged with relatives and neighbors. This is called as Mathel Lanba.

One remarkable tradition of Cheiraoba is the villagers climbing up to nearby hilltops (Cheiraoching) in the belief that it enables them to rise to heights in their worldly life, and be hale and hearty in the coming year. There is also a custom that married women should present a gift to her father and brothers, prior to the occasion.

Cheiraoba is a combination of two words, Chahi (year) and Laoba (declaration), meaning the declaration or the announcement of a new year. However, some scholars interpret it as Chei (Stick) and Laoba (declaration), with a different connotation. In ancient times, the king designated a particular man to traverse through all the Leikai (street) and Khungang (village), with bells fixed on a bamboo pole for maximum effect, to announce the onset of the New Year, hence the name Cheiraoba. Another school of thought has a different take on this interpretation. According to them, Pamheiba (the first Hindu king on Kangleipak) under the advice of his Dharma Guru Shantidas, sent forth soldiers with sticks threatening the people to celebrate Cheiraoba as the New Year, in time with the Bengali Charak Puja. They are of the opinion that Wakching, not Shajibu is the first month of the Meetei calendar.

Cheiraoba also known as Kurak Langtaiba, which means the conjoining of two ends, the beginning of the New Year and the end of the old year. This event with all its rites and rituals is an integral part of the lives of the Meeteis. It is an occasion for prayer and celebration. Meeteis, followers of the Sanamahi cult and the Hindu Meetei, celebrate the passing and the coming of the years with equal gusto, praying for peace and prosperity, health, and wealth in the days to come. Everyone pray to the Shidaba Mapu, the almighty, in whose hands lay the fate and fortune of all.

Read More at The Manipur Journal (www.manipurjournal.com)