Written by: Himani Bhattarai - 24011, Grade X
Posted on: 21 February, 2022
Religious practices can simply be defined as the various rituals practiced by the people of different races. For example people who belong to hindu community worship gods by organizing poojas. These religious practices have their own meaning and importance. They are considered to be the culture that is passed down by our ancestors. In the context of Nepal there are many bad customs and rituals that are practiced in the name of religion. So, should the government control those religious practices?
People should follow their religion and culture and at the same time respect the differences. This helps to maintain peace in the community. Culture is made by humans that are supposed to be beneficial to humankind but there are alot of bad customs that are still prevalent in the name of religion. Deuki pratha, Daijo pratha, Ghumti pratha are some of the major examples of bad customs prevalent in our community. Time changes gradually. People have to go with the flow of time and follow things that benefit the environment and mankind. These customs only cause bad influence, misunderstanding, disputes, and other harm to humans and animals as well. These customs have been prevalent for a very long period of time now. They must be eradicated soon or it will negatively influence the upcoming generation. The government plays a very important role in eradicating these problems. If they implement strong and strict laws, punishments for the people who spread these customs and still practice it in the society we can gradually eradicate the problem from the root itself. There are practices that benefit society as well. Let’s take an example. In the Nepali society people believe that if they commit a crime they go to hell in the afterlife whereas if they do good works and help people they will go to heaven. Most of the people who believe this do not commit crimes and do good works to go to the heaven afterlife. There are many other religious and cultural benefits that carry a huge importance in Nepali society. They are followed by the people all around the country. Those practices should be promoted as it does not harm the environment and humankind. Those are the practices that should be passed from generation to generation rather than passing down rituals that cause harm to the society. Passing down bad customs is just going to create harm to society. So it must be eradicated as soon as possible.
Government should take required actions to control some of the bad customs. In my opinion, the government must ban the customs that are a threat to society and promote the religious practices that don't harm the human kind. Promoting those religious and cultural practices helps to preserve Nepali culture. The culture reflects the people living in Nepal and their personalities. Hence, the government should only ban the religious and cultural practices that are a threat and bad influence to the society.
