January 4765Satavelekar launches "Swachh Maliviya" campaign against open air defecationInfrastructure Minister Benegal Satavelekar this morning announced his department would spearhead a project to "banish the blemish of open air defecation from the face of Maliva forever". The scheme, to be called "Swachh Maliviya" ("Clean Malivia") will involve the release of large sums of money for the construction and maintenance of toilets and sewers. International donors are being encouraged to contribute to the project's funds.
As is well-known in Malivia, putting an end to open air defecation will take more than building toilets and sewers. Since time immemorial, it seems, Malivians have been squatting down to do their business in fields, forests, bodies of water, behind bushes, ditches, railways tracks and roads. Up to 45% of Malivians are believed to participate in the practice. Old habits die hard, and there is a degree of resentment against demands to change them. Many sincerely believe defecating outdoors is more hygienic and "natural" than using toilets. To some extent this attitude is understandable, when one considers the unsanitary condition of many communal toilets, where the swarming of flies and the overflowing of latrine pits with fecal sludge is not an uncommon sight. Even when villagers have had modern toilets installed for them in their homes, government inspectors and social workers have frequently found they are not being used for their proper purpose, and have been converted instead in to storage space for food grain.
To tackle these obstacles, the government intends to combine the investment in infrastructure with a massive public propaganda campaign, promoting the use of toilets and educating citizens on how to use and maintain them, and also a vigorous system of enforcement, with the police empowered to fine and arrest people for violating the regulations about defecating in open spaces.
The Social Justice Foundation, which advocates for the interests of disadvantaged communities in Malivia, has issued this statement.
In principle, we strongly welcome this campaign, and encourage the international community to become involved. Open air defecation is a massive problem, contributing to the spread of disease, and making women vulnerable to sexual assault. However, we do have concerns about how the campaign will be implemented. We know from past and current experience that the authorities can be over-zealous, particularly with the Untouchable and Adivasi (OOC: tribal) communities, penalising people when they have no safe toilet that is accessible to them, and resorting to fines and prosecutions in circumstances where education and encouragement would be vastly more appropriate and effective. The government needs to push hard with this campaign, but it also needs to make sure it focuses on working with communities to solve this problem, as opposed to going in for confrontation.
Government soothes Hobrazia, pledges to regulate transport of cowsForeign Minister Arpit Bajpai has written a semi-apologetic letter to the government of Hobrazia, offering his "heartfelt condolences" for the cow vigilante victims and promising to "bring the culprits to justice as soon as this can be achieved". Sceptics, however, are doubtful as to how seriously the matter will be investigated, since a blind eye has been turned to previous Gau Raksha Paltan atrocities.
Meanwhile, Minister for Cows Satyender Ahluwalia has announced
new legislation which will require permission from his department before any cow can be transported, and will also require all cows to wear registered photo ID cards. "This is the best way we can ensure cows are not taken abroad to be slaughtered for meat," he said.
"Honest Hosians have nothing to fear" from new legislation, promises NijasureFollowing criticism from Hosian (OOC: Christian) leaders, including the Aurorian Patriarchal Church's Archbishop Roodra Shrivastav, Internal Affairs Minister Chatur Nijasure has issued a statement saying he wants to "assure the Hosian community that honest people, including honest Hosians, have nothing to fear" from the government's
Freedom of Religion Act, which would make it a criminal offence to attempt to convert a person from their religious faith "through the use of force, inducement or dishonest means". "The reason for this legislation is that some missionaries are going around, backed by foreign money, bullying and bribing simple and uneducated people in to becoming Hosians, and that is something we want to put a stop to," he added. Asked whether Malivia's two largest churches, the Bishopal Church and the Aurorian Patriachal Church, were responsible for this, Nijasure replied "We don't think from the main leaders, no, but from their people on the ground - sometimes, yes".
Following the Archbishop's statement, Aurorian Hosians in a village just outside Hitam have begun lowering a statue of the Virgin Sarahae (OOC: Virgin Mary) down a well by about 2 or 3 inches a day, vowing they will carry on lowering her until she intercedes with the Almighty and persuades Him to scupper the government's plans. This unorthodox ritual is peculiar to Aurorian Hosians in Malivia, and is often greeted with surprise, bemusement and horror by outsiders.
Hosian leaders called on to ban the sacred threadThe Social Justice Foundation, a liberal campaigning organisation, has written to the leaders of the Bishopal Church, the Aurorian Patriarchal Church, the Reformed Hosian Church and others, encouraging them to discourage their members from wearing the sacred thread, an emblem it says is "heavily associated with caste privilege and sexism".
In Rajutti (OOC: Indian) culture, boys from the elite Brahmin caste are given a sacred thread to wear around their shoulder and chest, or
janeu, as part of a coming-of-age ceremony known as an
Upanayana. They then usually go on to wear them throughout their lives. Some only wear them for special occasions, although many wear them all the time.
The sacred thread has its roots in Geraja (OOC: Hinduism), and for this reason, historically the main Hosian churches used to forbid Gerajan converts from wearing them. However, over time, and with Brahmin Hosians stubbornly refusing to give up the practice, the churches relented, deciding to view the sacred thread as primarily an emblem of cultural rather than religious identity.
Today, pressure is again increasing on the churches to do something about the issue. The pressure is coming from two directions, the first from those who see the
janeu as an icon that perpetuates caste and gender discrimination, and the second from those who feel Brahmins who wear the
janeu have not entirely left their Gerajan roots behind, and have not yet embraced Hosianism in the fullest doctrinal sense.
Defence Ministry confirms talks with DeltariaMinister for Defence Vrikodara Mahalanabis has confirmed the validity of reports that his department is discussing the purchase of military hardware and equipment from the government of Deltaria, but has refused to go in to specific details. "We are naturally keen to get the very best deal we can for Malivia, and negotiations are ongoing, but I can tell you we are very excited and hopeful that we will be able to make an announcement soon", he said.