Buddha boy fails to turn up at Gadhimai

BARIYARPUR, Nov 20: Ram Bahadur Bamjan, the Buddha boy, did not turn up at the Gadhimai festival on Friday though he had promised ´to stop the animal sacrifice´ at the festival. [break]

Bamjan, who had left his place of penance at Halkhoriya on Thursday, did not show up to stop the sacrificial killings at the festival on November 24-25. News of his possible arrival and his promise to stop the slaughter at any cost had led to the administration mobilizing additional forces to prevent any untoward incident.

He was expected to arrive between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. and a large number of journalists and devotees had waited for him through Thursday night. There were rumors that the Buddha boy would start his penance at the place of sacrifices in front of the Gadhimai temple.

“We have planned to stop him from coming to the vicinity of the sacrificial spot, out of security considerations,” a police officer deputed there said. “If he tries to get in forcefully, we will take him under control and bring him out of the security cordon,” he added.

There has been speculation that the recent security arrangements made Bamjan change his mind. The security cordon had been strengthened during the night to stop him from coming to the sacrificial spot. Around 1,200 security personnel including police and armed police were deployed in the area.

Bamjan has been vehemently opposing the mass killings for the past six weeks and news of his visit to Gadhimai was announced through pamphlets and local FM radio.

The Tapowan Committee, which makes arrangements at the site of Bamjan´s penance, maintains on the other hand that Bamjan would turn up any time before Friday midnight. “We had expected him to arrive in the morning. We will probably get to see him before midnight,” Raju Sah, a member of the committee, said. The committee, however, did not disclose the route Bamjan will take to reach the temple which is 30 km from the site of his penance.

Preparations for the festival have been completed despite vehement protests from national and international activists, according to the main organizing committee. The committee has appointed 250 persons for the sacrificial killings and claims that around 10,000 buffaloes can be sacrificed.

Chief priest at Gadhimai Mangal Chaudhary claimed that the sacrificial offerings will be made whether Bamjan arrives or not. “There have been concerns about this following news reports of his possible arrival. But this age-old tradition would not be stopped at any cost,” Chaudhary said.