Newahs (Newars), the indigenous community of Kathmandu were yet again disappointed by the indifferent attitude displayed by the government and the concerned authority to coordinate different festivals. Realising that the concerned authorities were least interested in managing various indigenous events and festivals, several political and social groups including Newah Jagaran Manch (NJM) and Newah Rastriya Mukti Morcha emerged to ensure the interests of the community. Mukesh Shrestha, one among some 70 thousand people participating in a procession walking around the city in memory of their deceased family members, was visibly concerned over the lack of traffic management in narrow lanes of the city on Friday. “It is sad to witness the continuous demise of the age old culture and monuments built painstakingly by our ancestors,” he said. Expressing anger at some taxi drivers and rickshaw pullers who were trying to force themselves inside the congested narrow lanes aggressively without any care for the crowd participating in the procession, he noted, “I do realise Kathmandu is turning into a melting pot as a result of the decade-long armed conflict, but the migrants to the capital should display some respect towards the ancient traditions and festivals of Kathmandu’s native community.” Mukesh maintained the view that the government should ensure the rights of the natives of the city. He also pointed out that there is no sense in putting all the blame on police department as the forerunners of Newah community failed to convince the concerned authorities to make necessary arrangements. Scores of organisations claiming to be working for the rights and benefits of Newah community are mostly busy visiting foreign countries, running INGOs to earn foreign donations or are merely armchair intellectuals. Meanwhile, various political and social groups including NJM and Morcha started forging alliances to work in coordination to preserve and maintain their rich cultural heritage realising the fact that their community is fast transforming into a minority in their own ancestral land. Coordinator of NJM, Sujib Bajracharya said, “We have formed a group comprising some 200 volunteers to assist government authority in managing the event involving chariot procession of Living Goddess Kumari scheduled on Sunday.” He said, “We have submitted a petition to the valley superintendent of traffic police, Bhisma Kanta Aryal, to inform him about traffic congestion during the Indrajatra festival but there was hardly enough manpower to manage the event on the first day of the festival on Friday which involves more than 70 thousand people walking around the city in memory of their deceased family members.” It seems like the police department is too occupied obeying the decrees issued by newly appointed home minister, he said, and added, “If they can halt the traffic for a party leader or minister, then why can they not divert traffic for a few hours to ensure convenience to thousands of common people?” Another issue raised by the social groups of the community was putting an end to Guruju Paltan, the army unit which goes back to the days when the Shah king invaded the valley. They argue that with the country now a republic, there is no point in giving continuity to the tradition. They also emphasised that the chief of government bodies such as Guthi Sasthan and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) ought to have detailed knowledge about the cultural and traditional system of capital. If officials who are least aware of Newa culture are in-charge, how can we expect them to carry out their duties properly, they asked. They all concluded that such lackadaisical attitude displayed by the government would complicate matters and force the community to announce general strikes - which today seem to be the best way to attract media attention, and force the concerned authorities to execute their duties properly. ä