Mail   February 1999

Although Baltis have always opposed their incorporation into Kashmir, the fact is the area was once under Dogra rule.

Thus, whenever voices are raised at international fora over Kashmir, the people of the Northern Areas, including Baltistan, are also included in the issue.

The people of this area have been facing persecution under the Pakistani regime, and are deprived of all political and judicial rights. Now, surveys show that more and more Baltis are averse to the idea of staving with Pakistan, and look forward to being part of an independent Kashmir. Anyone living in Ciilii.it can observe the rallies and mass meetings of the separatists. If a region, which willingly joined Pakistan in 1948, now wants to opt out of the union, that is an indictment of the Pakistani authorities' rule from the Centre.

Last November, two girls of the Ismailia community from the Ghizer district of the Northern Areas, were kidnapped by some Sunnis of Chilas district. Within a few days, the incident took the shape of a religious riot and roads were blocked by demonstrators. The government has been blamed for supporting the Sunni kidnappers. (The majority of the Northern Area population is Shia.)

According to community heads, this was not the first such case; earlier 61 girls were taken away to Chilas. and the government took no action. The government has been strongly criticised for supporting the Sunnis. The people are saying that they liberated themselves from the Dogras and joined Pakistan to protect their religious beliefs, but it seems their religion is in danger even in Pakistan.

The oppression of Shias is very sad and depressing, and those who are perpetrating it can never be patriots, rather they want to see this country break up. They should not push the people of the Northern Areas so much into the corner that they decide to review their merger with Pakistan, and go for an option not favourable to Pakistan. Sengge Tshering
Skardu, Baltistan
Flesh trade Going through John Fredericks "Deconstructing Gita" in the October 1998 issue was like reading parts of my own recently completed report on the trafficking of women in Nepal. The writer's view that the entry of Nepali women into the flesh trade is due to lack of employment opportunities and/or of significant sources of income was also the conclusion I had reached in my study.

Look at the facts. Forty-five percent of Nepal's population live below the national poverty line. Despite development efforts and support by the international aid community over the decades, the country's economy has failed to keep pace with the rapidly growing population. This is due to several factors including the instability of the government, the heavy dependence on a low-productive agricultural sector, weak institutional and human capital, and over-dependence on foreign assistance.

Agriculture comprises the major portion of Nepal's GDP and most of the 80 percent of the population who depend on this sector are subsistence farmers who do not grow any surplus to sell. But living in todays society without liquidity is virtually impossible. Standards set by an increasingly materialistic society pressures those from lowincome households to seek alternative means of income.

A huge majority of Nepalis live in rural areas and their only way to earn money is by moving to the cities in search of work. Many of them end up joining the small manufacturing industry, which is comprised mainly of garment and carpet factories. These places have become one of the prime targets of Indian pimps and Nepali middlemen. During my research 1 found that women are sold through factory owners to pimps and middlemen for anywhere between USD 200 and USD 500.

There are various other ways through which women end up in prostitution. Some arc lured with promises of marriage and/or of work in India. Others are kidnapped from their homes, usually in remote parts of Nepal. And in other cases, families knowingly and willingly send their daughters (or wives or sisters) into the sex industry. Some women go in search of jobs themselves to ease the burden on their families. Whatever the case, it is the hope of additional income that leads them to prostitution.

What is alarming, though, is that ever-younger girls are being forced into the sex trade. A recent study showed that the age of these victims has dropped from 14-18 years old to 10-14 years old. In some villages, one does not find girls over the age of nine.

An estimated 7000-10,000 women and children are trafficked from Nepal into India every year. Around 200,000 are said to be working in India's sex industry. Sometimes a few are rescued, but others are still trapped. There are others who are hesitant to come back to Nepal because they are ashamed and afraid of the ostracism they will face in Nepali society. Some say that they would rather continue to work in India because there is nothing left for them in Nepal, as their families will not accept them back. In Nepal, they feel they will be forced to roam the streets again, a fact that is partially true.

In the course of my research, I also came across numerous articles and case studies on the flesh trade, and almost all of them blamed its perpetuation on either the open border between Nepal and India or the corrupt police and government officials in both countries. However apportioning blame is not going to solve the problem. It is time to look at the core of the problem, which is quite obvious—Nepal's poverty. Only with a responsible government devoted to uplifting the nations economy can Nepalis have a better chance of survival within their own country. Rita Lohani
Clark University, Massachusetts
Monica's anatomy I've read Himal with interest over the years and will continue to do so in the future. Though I'm not a subscriber, there are few issues which I haven't had the opportunity to read. I've appreciated the magazine's incisive social and political criticism, its refusal to shirk from issues of substance, and its tendency to highlight and examine matters of social justice, including sexism.

Given what I thought were Himal's strongest qualities, I was surprised to read in the "Mediafile" section of the September 1998 issue columnist Chhetria Patrakar's concern with Monica Lewinsky's anatomy. Why should we have to read about Patrakar's curiosity as to why "press photographs studiously focus on Ms Lewinsky' (sic) torso and leave her bottom half out of the frame".

To his credit, Patrakar's criticism of this omission lies in the fact that "the voyeuristic demands of media require that the public be shown an attractive woman". But Patrakar's choice of language and tone— indeed the framing of his question makes his criticism of others' sexism ring hollow.

Kenneth D. Croes
Princeton, New Jersey Yeti, come back When I got my last issue of Himal and it had no yeti at the end, I thought it was what we in the business call a defective copy', also an export reject', maybe OK for us Indians but not for elsewhere. But 1 can as much do without yeti as Jim Hendrix could do without his daily poke. So I asked a friend in Yankland, and for safety (you know US Mail) another in Old Blighty, to send me their issues. These arrived, but the lady had done the vanishing act there as well. Then it dawned that this was not little Nepal's trick on us big Indians but a considered, or consideredly idiotic, decision to drop the page altogether. This is a warning. If the yeti does not reappear I shall be contacting the LTTE for further action and advice. Ramachandra Guha
Bangalore
I have to tell the "Abominably Yours" columnist how you have been missed in the last two issues. Did someone finally trace your feminist footprints and scare you away? Please come back to the back pages; Himal isn't the same without your spicy, acidic missives.

Alexa Dvorson
Cologne, Germany I am in shock. As a faithful reader of Himal the Himalayan magazine, and having watched the magazine's sweep broaden to envelop the dusty plains and the seas, I was glad the yeti had thought it unnecessary to budge from the last page, issue after issue. Now what have you done? Surely she has no need to hibernate. Ann Ninan
New Delhi
At first I thought it was just a case of PMS, this sudden silence from the erstwhile yakkety yeti. But now methinks your hirsute lady columnist is seriously thinking of not coming back at all. What gives? What has caused her chest hair to curl and get her all upset? Fee not commensurate with her appetite? Unrequited love? Sore bum from all that sitting while writing her column? Whatever it is, do lure her back, even if it means rubbing yak butter on an immense behind. The thought of a Lady-less Himal is, well, abominable.

Maria Makris
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I have just received my January copy of Himal and am disappointed to see that "Abominably yours" is still missing. Please pass on my good wishes to your correspondent for an enjoyable extended leave. When will she be returning? I always read her column before anything else in Himal, so her incisive satire and wit is sadly missed. Adrian Price
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