Chittaun Kacheheri: Platform of alternative ideas

By A Staff Reporter

Narayangadh, May 15

The first edition of Chitwan Literature Festival, which was titled Chittaun Kacheheri, was proved to be a forum for alternative ideas.

Held in Narayani Kala Mandir, Narayangadh, the two-day festival had presented Dilip Mahato’s father Ram Jiban Mahato and younger sister Laxmi Mahato as the speakers among others at the session titled ‘The long journey of fight for the justice’. A conservation activist, Dilip had been protesting against illegal mining of Aurahi riverbed material in Dhanusha. He was brutally killed by crusher operators and agents on 10 January, 2020.

‘The nation must listen when the speechless people begin to speak,’ Ram Jiban said.

Anita Chepang, Aitimaya Chepang, Santosh Bot and Hiradevi Chaudhari were other speakers of the same session who had suffered in the name of conservation of Chitwan National Park. Their stories of sufferings left the audience speechless.

Rupa Sunar, Bikash Biswakarma, Shivahari Gyawalia and Manoz Lohar spoke on the tyranny of caste system while Sanjaya Mahato, Gyan Bahadur Bote, Indu Tharu and Sunimaya Chepang expressed their views at the session titled ‘Where were indigenous people left in development ?’.

Ruksana Kapali, Sudip Gautam, Ishan Regmi, Milan Bastola ‘Kanchha Dai’ and Gauri Nepali spoke on LGBTQ. Ajay Dixit, Sagar Karki, Uttam Kandel and Sharada Chhetri spoke on water and environmental issue while Nabin Bibhas, Pratisara Sayami, Raju Syangtan and Manoj Chaudhari expressed views on literature and knowledge of mother tongue.

Likewise, Resham Birahi, Bhupeen, Sirjan Abiral, Simran Chhetri and Ganesh Khaniya expressed views on fiction writing in Chitwan.

All together, the festival had 18 sessions on history, politics, civilisation, caste system, indigenous knowledge, justice, gender, environment and so on. In addition, famous poets of the country presented poems and ghazals. Karmi Group staged two dramas ‘Thaha’ and ‘Swapna Bayan’ while Tharu community presented local music and dance.

‘Our motto was to convey local issues to the nation,’ festival director Sarita Tiwari, who is a famous writer, said this scribe. She added that the second edition of the festival would be held on coming winter.

‘We will keep focussing on ground reality in the editions ahead,’ Dr. Jivan Chhetri, deputy director of the festival, said.

The festival was jointly organised by Bharatpur-based Manthan, Dabali The Space, Dalit Youth Awareness Forum, Better Chitwan, Youth Political Forum and Narayani Kala Mandir.

Main promoter of the festival was the government of Bagmati Province.

From The Rising Nepal, 16 May 2023