KATMANDU: It’s a big day for nine-year-old Nepali schoolgirl Riddhima Shrestha and her three-year-old sister, Ishita, as they dress up in silk brocade and gold jewellery, preparing to wed a Hindu god.
The two sisters are among dozens of girls taking part in the “ihi” or “bel bibaha” ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practised by Katmandu’s indigenous Newar community, whose customs combine elements of Hinduism and Buddhism. The two-day ceremony, usually held several times a year in the capital’s historic durbar (royal) square, sees pre-pubescent girls “marry” the Hindu deity, Vishnu, symbolized by the local “bel” fruit.
The centuries-old custom is believed to protect girls from the stigma of widowhood by ensuring that a Newari woman’s first husband, the deity, will inevitably outlive her mortal spouse.
During the ceremony, girls hold the bel fruit, also known as a wood apple, in one palm and touch a statue of the god with the other, symbolically giving Vishnu their hand in marriage.
The girl’s parents also secure their place in heaven by performing “kanyadaan” -- the practice of giving away one’s daughter in marriage -- according to the priests who conduct the ceremony.
“These are traditions handed down by our ancestors, we have to follow them and keep them alive. It is our culture,” said Dipendra Shrestha, father of the two girls.
After the rituals end, with gifts for the bride followed by a feast for family and friends, it’s back to school for third-grader Riddhima, who is the first of her classmates to go through the ceremony.
“My friends were curious about it, it was fun to tell them about it,” Riddhima told AFP.
“I really enjoyed myself, I felt like a grown-up, like a bride.”
Girls in Nepal ‘marry’ Hindu deity to protect from widowhood
Girls in Nepal ‘marry’ Hindu deity to protect from widowhood
‘Stay out of our politics,’ Australia’s former PM tells Netenyahu
- Turnbull slams Israeli prime minister in Channel 4 interview
- Netanyahu’s attempts to link Bondi massacre to Palestine policy ‘unhelpful’
LONDON: Australia’s former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told Benjamin Netanyahu to “stay out of our politics” after the Israeli leader linked the recognition of Palestine to the Bondi Beach mass shooting.
Fifteen people were killed when a father and son opened fire on people celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday evening.
Netanyahu said Australia's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood earlier this year had poured “oil on the fire of antisemitism” in the weeks leading up to the attack.
When asked about the comments on Channel 4 News in the UK, Turnbull said: “I would respectfully say to Bibi Netanyahu, please stay out of our politics.
“If you've got that kind of commentary to make, you are not helping … and it’s not right.”
Turnbull backed the current Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government for recogizing Palestinian statehood in August along with many other Western nations as international pressure grew over the war in Gaza.
In a speech after the Bondi attack, Netanyahu said: “A few months ago I wrote to the Australian prime minister that your policy is pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism.”
He added: “Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders are silent.”
Turnbull said the vast majority of countries in the world recognize Palestine as a state and support a two-state solution to the conflict.
He said Australia is a very successful multicultural society that can not allow foreign conflicts to be imported.
“We need to ensure that that wars in the Middle East or wars in any other part of the world are not fought out here,” he said. “Trying to link them, which is what Netanyahu has done, is not helpful and that's exactly the reverse of what we want to achieve.”
Albanese also rejected Netanyahu’s comments when asked about whether there was a link between his approach to Palestine and the Bondi attack.
“Overwhelmingly, most of the world recognizes a two-state solution as being the way forward in the Middle East,” he told broadcasters. “This is a moment of national unity where we need to come together … We need to wrap our arms around members of the Jewish community who are going through an extraordinarily difficult period.”
Albanese visited in hospital the man hailed a s hero for disarming one of the attackers.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed, a shopkeeper who moved to Australia from Syria in 2007, is recovering after tackling the gunman.
