coments from the reader

LADAKH RIOTS.In his article on "Riots in Ladakh" (Sept/Oct 1989), Siddiq Wahid makes two points. First, that it is the wicked foreigners who have planted the notion that Muslims are oppressing Buddhists in Ladakh; second, that the same foreigners have created the impression that to be Ladakhi is to be Buddliist, and that, therefore, there is no such tiling as a Muslim Ladakhi. Wahid´s citing of Franckc and Sncllgrovc, however, do not justify his somewhat excited conclusions. Wahid ignores certain facts both in the valley and outside. In the valley, the ethnic protests by Buddhists were rooted in at least two grievances: in not being given representation in the Kashmir Cabinet; and in not being allowed to pray in Buddhist shrines in areas where Muslims are in the majority. If ethnicity over-rides religion, the first poinl should have been taken up by non-Buddhist Ladakhis as well, and the second should simply not have arisen. Since Mr. Wahid works in Delhi, he cannot have missed the fact of the Partition in 1947 and the communal violence that took place in British India and continues to take place in the sub-continent..Does he mean to tell us that Hindus and Muslims in India and Shias and Sunnis in Pakistan are not of the same ethnic stock, or that wicked foreigners are responsible for it all? Second, Wahid blames "intellectual colonisation," " development," even " compulsory education" – all of them good cliches, and therefore more emotive than factual. He is scathing about compulsory education which more often than not means, according to him, ´merely´ ,(a word he emphasises) the ability to read and write, preferably in English. Thus he hits out at several concepts: compulsory education, skill of leading and writing, and, of course, English..One cannot but feel that Wahid himself has merely picked up the ability to read and write English. We should not scoff at the modest skills that literacy imparts; the literate citizen is dangerous because he ot she will not remain dumb for long. The feudal kings realised this, and so always denied education to their slaves and vassals. It would indeed be disastrous if the activist lobby were to lend them its unwitting support. As a woman, I am very glad to have the education and the opportunities that my grandmother was denied. So are the large numbers of the lower castes, Hindu and Muslim. The burgeoning of Dalit literature in India is a testimony to that. It is their sole passport to a tolerable life. Vasudka Dhagamwar New Delhi SPINY BABLER "In search of the Spiny Babler" (Nov/Dec 1989) was most interesting. Congratulations to Dr. Tej Kumar Shrestha for his efforts.. This rare bird, or one seldom sighted, has never been seen by me or any of my friends during many years of bird watching in Kumaon. Hari Sharan Nepali, president of the Nepal Bird Watching Club, can retain his confidence that me Spiny Babler is endemic only to Nepal! Akshobh Singh, Kumaon SUNGDARE The article "Summits are lonely places" in llimal (Nov/Dec 1989) is inaccurate in some respects. The expedition that Sungdare "barely survived" and on which he was badly frostbitten was the occasion of his firsl Everest ascent in 1979 and not Ms third. The sardar was Pertemba, as is correctly stated. Subsequently, allegations were made in the foreign mountaineering press that Sungdare had been badly treated – "sent down to Khuncic strapped to the back of a Yak" and the like. These allegations were hotly denied by some expedition members, but Sungdare undoubtably suffered a great deal. It is generally concluded that his drinking habits dated from this lime, when he took to drink as a pain killer. Jimmy Roberts Mountain Travel RAMAYANA AND ANTHROPOLOGY It is clear from the article by Dor Bahadur Bista ("Ramayana, Ramayana, Ramayana," Jul/Aug 1989) that he is upset.with the version of Hinduism that is currently being propagated by the state-supported group of pundits. I sympathize with Prof. Bista on this point. In fact, I would like to add that the Brahmin gToup is increasingly alienating not only the numerous ethnic groups that Prof. Bista quotes but a whole lot of "high-caste" individuals who are educated and have a wider outlook on these issues. Prof. Bista is identified at tlie end of the article as "an anthropologist and a Matwali Khas…" It is my opinion that in the process of writing the article he might have retained his identity as a Matwali Khas but he certainly damaged his anthropological standing. An anthropologist needs to have an objective view of the people he/she is exploring. In the article, however, Prof. Bista shows himself to be subjectively entangled and lets his biases show. He has selectively chosen "facts" to fit his theory. From Ramayana, he has learned to be "cautious and watchful of every woman, for they clearly are wicked, vicious, cruel, unpredictable and altogether insensitive." He chooses Manthara and Kaikeyi as examples. Why has he left out Ram´s mother, Kaushalya, or Sita herself, who arc portrayed in Ramayana as kind, predictable and sensitive. Prof. Bista makes sweeping generalisations about the Matwali and Brahmin groups: "…there are still a considerable number of ethnic Matwali people who are by tradition and temperament collectivists and not egotists, as are most ´civilized1 high caste people." It is not possible with research tools currently available in psychological anthropology to explore such broad concepts like collectivism ot egotism. How are these terms defined and where does egotism end and collectivism begin for Brahmins and Matwalis? In discussing the imperious pundits and the stubborn Matwalis "who refuse to mend their ways and insist on their ethnic identity," Prof. Bista has not dealt with two social processes that deserve study: sanskritisation.and modernisation. The traditional process of sanskritisation is going.on, however much we might like to disbelieve it in light of the new values we have acquired. At the same time, through the modernisation process, people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds are striving to climb the social and economic ladder through education and new occupations. Under the modernisation process, the value of converting to a higher caste no longer exists. Here, other value systems come to the fore. True, there are a number of pundits who not only favour the sanskritisation process but, as Prof. Bista rightly points out, go so far as to perform braiabandha among ethnic groups. In the rage against the pundits who are propagating a very narrow form of Hinduism in the country, Prof. Bista seems to have lost ihe anthropologist´s perspective. Instead of looking at the larger and "more whole" social processes, he seems to have been frozen in the perspective of a Matwali Khas. The questions raised but unanswered by Prof. Bista should lead Nepali anthropologists to mull over how they define their discipline, what should be their focus, and how and for what purpose they "do" anthropology. Arun Raj Joshi Harvard University, Boston RAMAYANA AND VALUES Reading Dor Bahadur Bista´s "Ramayana, Ramayana, Ramayana" leads me to believe that Himal (Jul/Aug 1989) is a forum which encourages debates even in the rarely reflected on realm of values. It should, because value issues, though they are at the very core of development debates, are rarely discussed openly. This is why the public stage has been captured by fundamentalists the world over and the upholders of rational values quake in closed cloisters, D.B.Bista takes a brave potshot in ridiculing our own fundamentalism riding the electronic waves, but takes liberty with reason that may be counter-productive. First, a historical epic like the Ramayana is no more Indian than Einstein is German or American, and Nepalis (matwali or otherwise) have no reason to embargo it. Second, while one may find quaint some form of etiquette of honouring the learned by those wielding state power, it cannot per se be said to be bad, especially in Nepal where a clear dearth of this tradition is seen. And as regards brahmins being learned by birth, one can quote enough Sanskrit slokas that ordain that lcamedness does not come as a patrimony. Third, mistreatment of women is very wide-spread and does not spare any ethnic group as the article implies. Similarly, collectivism and individualism are traits seen in every group, and Hinduisation cannot be explained in such terms. It may be more rational to explain it in Toynbccan terms of cultural mimesis where the values and life-styles of a creative minority are emulated by the majority, D.B.Bista really has nothing to fear regarding further Hinduisation: The appearance of fundamentalism in currently practiced Hinduism in Nepal is not a sign of strength but a symptom of lost creativity. Nobody will emulate what a spent elite does, Dipak Gyawaii, Chabel, Kaihmandu. KANGSHUNG CORRECTION Hearty congratulations on your continuing success in bringing a new and worthy journal to bear on the issues of the Himalayan region. A correction, however, is needed to your "Abstracts" section (Scp/Oct 1989), concerning Steve Venabte´s book, Everest: Kangshung Face. Venable´s climb of the East Face of Everest, memorable though it may be, is not the first climb of the East Face as your review stated. Three Americans summittedfrom the Kangshung Face on 8 October 1983, and three more the next day. As expedition leader of that second American attempt on Mallory´s "impossible" face which he left to "other men, less wise," let me set your records straight. Under a permit first secured by Dick Blum for a 1981 attempt, and using the photographs taken by Andrew Harvard in his 1980 solo reconnaissance up the Kangshung Glacier, and having learnt from the 1981 attempt, our expedition successfully climbed the 4,000-foot buttress of the East Face, including the formidable 800-foot overhanging section which we named Lowe Headwall for George Lowe, who had done most of the brilliant leading in 1981. Those who reached the summit were: Kim Momb, Louis Reichardt, Carlos Buhler, George Lowe, Dan Reid and Jay Casscll, James D. Morrissey, M.D. Stockton, California FLOODS In response to "Another solution to flooding?" {Himal Nov/Dee 1989). Increase in population and development of modern science have aided human beings to occupy the floodplains and interfere with the river systems. Learning to live with floods would be an ecologically compatible and economically viable solution to the flood problem. This would mean a change in the perception of flood management. Floodplain zoning, disaster preparedness, flood forecast and warning, cropping patterns suited to floods, instrumentation and study of river systems, preservation of natural retention basins, development of railroads and roadways based on drainage patterns are some of the ways and means which would aid people to live with floods.