Lumbini: Her mobile phone keeps ringing nearly every single minute and she can’t do without responding to the call because it could be an urgent call, it could be somebody trying to tell her how she has been abused by her husband for dowry or how she has been inflicted with violence or it could be somebody trying to tell her to facilitate budget for drinking water facility or training for women. It could be anything.
Therefore, she says, she takes all calls except when she is at a serious meeting or in some conferences or while she is delivering speeches in formal programs.
She is Kalpana Harijan, the Deputy Mayor of Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality of Rupandehi district.
Why do women call her first when they encounter problems?
“This is because the women have a lot of expectations from a deputy mayor because she is a woman and women think the deputy mayor can better take care of their concerns than the mayor or somebody else,” said Harijan. The concerns she receives are usually about social security, physical and human resource development, disputes among the neighbors or disputes between the spouses. “It is not that the deputy mayor alone can address all of these concerns but what makes the post of deputy mayor special is that there is so much trust in her,” she added. “They think that they can make the deputy understand their concerns and that the deputy mayor understands them better,” she explained.
Most of the time, the issues raised with her are about citizenship, a husband not providing citizenship to his wife and children, dowry violence and so on. They also request her to manage funds for development in their localities.
One big issue she is trying to get the attention of the authorities towards is the ‘Save Lumbini’ campaign, which she leads and with which thousands of locals in her municipality join hands in solidarity. Since time immemorial, the locals here have been working for preservation of the sacred site of Lumbini, she explained. The locals sacrificed as many as 1155 bighas of land and migrated elsewhere for the development of Lumbini. “They gave land for the development of Lumbini without demanding any compensation but they have been ignored,” Harijan said.
According to her, the Lumbini Development Trust has not been serving the purpose of developing Lumbini as a sacred site of Buddhism in a real sense. Lumbini Development Trust does not address the legitimate concerns raised by the locals. She said that there are irregularities and corruption inside Maya Devi temple, some of the artifacts are suspected to have been sold out by those in power. “We are actually talking about the revitalization and renovation of Maya Devi temple. Some of the activities inside the Trust are against the principle of Pancha Sila.”
Pancha Sila in Buddhist philosophy refers to five codes of ethics to be followed by followers. These five codes call for compliance to abstinence from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication.
“The Trust has become a center for organizing programs where things including meat are consumed. We want this to stop. We want to maintain Lumbini as what it is, a sacred site of peace and Buddhism,” said Harijan. “Save Lumbini Campaign is basically about this.”
One major grievance she has with the Trust is that it does not coordinate with the local government on any issues. “They just do things arbitrarily,” she said. “Many Gumbas and temples inside the Lumbini compound are operating like hotels and restaurants, which is against the idea of Pancha Sila,” she further said.
Harijan does not take things at face value, she participates in every discussion about policies and plans in the Municipal Executive and raises voice if things are imposed or if decisions are reached without consultative and participatory approach. “I am not among those who just sign the papers made by the mayor or municipal assembly. I ask them questions,” said Harijan. “I question, I grill and even intervene if I find that things are not happening transparently.”
“Maybe they think because we are women we need to be docile and do whatever they want us to do. But we women members in the municipal assembly and executive should be assertive, we should speak up and raise our voices, we need to intervene when needed,” Harijan said without mincing words. “Only then can there be a real sense of representation of women.”
Harijan says that deputy mayors across the country, majority of them women, need to encourage other women members to be assertive.
“I cannot tell for other municipalities but in Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality women do not stay quiet, they participate in every discussion and raise questions,” she concluded.
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