Water Buffalo Diplomacy
Nepali Times ईspecial 6 - 12 December 2024 #1238
As we come to the cusp of the new year, we have to bring Nepal’s impending Momo Crisis to the attention of readers. Yes, aside from all the other calamities facing our Federal Democratic Secular Ex-Kingdom, the one that worries me the most is the shortage of Nepal’s national fast food: buff momos.
There is reason to be concerned. In order to salvage his China visit Prime Minister K P Oli last week signed the Belt and Road Initiative Framework Cooperation Agreement in Beijing to export water buffalo steaks to the People’s Republic. Read Shristi Karki's debriefing of the visit ('China Syndrome') on page 1 of this week’s Nepali Times.
Exporting buffalo meat sounds like a brilliant idea to reduce Nepal’s huge balance of trade deficit with China. We have water buffalo and they want to eat it — what could be the problem?
Here, it is important to ask: is Nepal itself self-sufficient in water buffalo? Are we going to deprive momo joints in our country of raw material by exporting it all to China? Imagine the harm to Nepal’s self-esteem if momo wrappings no longer have buff meat inside them, but pulverised innards of chicken.
Here is an idea: how about turning the mass ritual sacrifices of buffaloes at Kot (every Dasain) and Gadimai (every 5 years) into a source of export? All that meat just goes waste anyway, we might as well turn the mountains of meat into hard currency under the Buffalo Ration Initiative (BRI)? That way Nepalis will not have to dump our dumplings.
On the subject of Gadimai, please read Chandra Kishore’s monthly column Borderlines on page 2 from Bara district in which he reports on preparations for the five-yearly mass sacrifice of buffaloes, goats, chicken and even white mice in the tiny village of Baliyarpur. The killings are going ahead despite opposition from animal rights activists. The guest editorial, ‘Gadimai Again’ is also online.
Kathmandu has always been a hub for South Asian conferences because it is the only place besides Colombo where Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis can meet easily to discuss everything from climate breakdown, migration to gender issues. Now, it is also becoming an international conference centre. Just this week 300 journalists from 40 countries gathered at the Yak & Yeti Hotel for the Global Voices Summit 2024, in which Nepali Times was a co-sponsor.
And over at the Soaltee, another 400 medical researchers and health experts will meet 8-9 December for the 17th Asian Conference on Diarrhoeal Diseases and Nutrition (ASCODD). Nepal will be showcasing its successful typhoid vaccine trials by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) Nepal that has reduced the incidence of this disease around the world.
This issue of the paper covers both conferences on pages 5 and 9.
The page 6-7 centrefold this week is by Lauren Fox of the Pultizer Centre who travelled to Manang to see the impact of the storms in September on the Tilicho and Thorung trekking routes. The 3 Sisters agency’s work in training women trekking guides is also profiled.
On page 10-11, Subeksha Poudel exposes serial sexual abuse by a noted Nepali ceramic artist and teacher over the years. The female students were young adults when the abuse happened, and now have come together to press legal charges to prevent him from wronging other women. Also online: ‘Art Lover’ Accused of Sexual Abuse'.
Our weather forecast this week on page 8 predicts the arrival of the season’s first westerly front which will bring snow and rain to western and central Nepal. For more content, visit www.nepalitimes.com.
Keep warm.
Kunda Dixit
