Priests call for a halt to sea turtle slaughter<\/p>\n
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post\/Denpasar<\/p>\n
It clearly was not an ordinary day. The morning sun radiated a
\nwarm glow that softly embraced the spacious patch of plush green
\ngrass in front of the office of the local education agency in
\nRenon. At the same time, a light drizzle wet the ground while a
\nstrong breeze set the nearly pine trees swaying gently.<\/p>\n
\"That's what usually happens when a large number of high
\npriests gather in one place,\" said the secretary of Bali's Hindu
\nDharma Parisadha, Made Mayor Sudharsana. .<\/p>\n
\"It is a sign that Mother Nature has bestowed her blessing
\nupon this meeting,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, the meeting he was referring to had a lot to do
\nwith nature. Co-organized by the local branch of the Hindu Dharma
\nParisadha (the Hindu religion's governing body in Bali) and the
\nWWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature), a global conservation non-
\ngovernmental organization, the meeting on Jan. 15 was focused on
\nthe conservation and protection of sea turtles.<\/p>\n
It was a unique meeting due to the presence of at least 29
\ninfluential Hindu high priests from East Java, Bali and Lombok.<\/p>\n
\"This pesamuhan (gathering) is the first of its kind.
\nNever before has such a large gathering of respected high priests
\nbeen called to discuss the issue of turtle conservation,\" the
\nchairman of the Bali Parisadha, I Made Artha, noted.<\/p>\n
It was not an easy task to secure the participation of all the
\nhigh priests. There were \"political\" obstacles; the fact that
\nArtha's Parisadha is not the only Parisadha on the island and the
\nexistence of slight feelings of mutual antipathy between the
\nPedanda (high priest of the Brahmin caste) and the Sri Empu (high
\npriest of the Pasek caste). There were also more practical
\nproblems, mainly due to the tight schedules of the high priests.<\/p>\n
\"Fortunately, despite all those obstacles, all the high
\npriests eventually agreed to attend the meeting, even those who
\nsupported the other Parisadha,\" said WWF's turtle campaign leader
\nIda Bagus Windia Adnyana.<\/p>\n
Windia was the person responsible for contacting all the high
\npriests. The fact that he was born into a respected Brahmin
\nfamily and is thus a candidate for the high priesthood himself,
\nand is well-versed in religious scriptures obviously played a
\ncritical role in his ability to win over all the high priests.<\/p>\n
\"The Pesamuhan went so well that all of those problems
\nmean nothing now,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The meeting did indeed go surprisingly well. WWF Indonesia's
\nexecutive director Mubariq Ahmad gave a chilling presentation on
\nhow the island's turtle trade and consumption, which by the late
\n1990s resulted in over 20,000 sea turtles being slaughtered per
\nyear, was not only robbing the island of its turtle population
\nbut was also creating ecological strains in numerous sea turtle
\nhabitats around the country, such as in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The presentation apparently brought about a sudden realization
\nof the crisis facing sea turtles on the part of the dozens of
\nHindu intellectuals and community leaders attending the meeting.<\/p>\n
\"I never knew that our tradition (of consuming turtle meat)
\ncould have such grave ecological impacts in other places,\"
\nadmitted Sri Wahyuni, one of the participants.<\/p>\n
For decades, Bali has been the center of the country's illegal
\nturtle trade. Despite all the regulations and law enforcement
\nefforts, between 500 and 1,000 turtles are still illegally
\nimported into the island each month.<\/p>\n
Various elements of Balinese society, particularly turtle
\npoachers and traders in the island's main turtle ports of
\nSerangan and Tanjung Benoa, have justified, and thus perpetuated,
\nthe trade by claiming that turtle meat is an essential part of
\nBalinese Hindu sacrificial rituals.<\/p>\n
According to those involved in the turtle trade, those who
\nsought to protect and conserve turtles were, in fact, trying to
\ndestroy the island's cultural and religious heritage. Such
\narguments have placed local conservation NGOs and law enforcement
\nagencies on a perpetually frustrating defensive footing for
\nyears.<\/p>\n
The meeting changed all this.<\/p>\n
\"Only the biggest sacrificial rituals require turtle meat. By
\nthe biggest, I mean rituals aimed at cleansing the island or the
\nworld, certainly not rituals or offerings at the family level. In
\nthis context, Hindu rituals only need between 100 and 200 turtles
\nper year,\" stressed the chairman of the Sabha Pandita (Council of
\nHigh Priests) of the Indonesia Parisadha, Ida Pedanda Sebali
\nTianyar Arimbawa.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, another high priest, Ida Pedanda Gde Bang Buruan
\nManuaba, a passionate conservationist, boldly stated that turtle
\nmeat could be substituted for by turtle rice cakes or pictures of
\nturtles. Another alternative was to use a live turtle for the
\nritual and then release it back into the ocean once the ceremony
\nwas over.<\/p>\n
\"These alternatives are not new as they are mentioned in
\nvarious ancient scriptures. I have put it into practice. I have
\nconducted a Caru Satya Ahimsa sacrificial ritual, in which no
\nanimal was killed, and I have also officiated at a ceremony in
\nYangapi village, Tabanan that involved live sea turtles. At the
\nend of the ceremony, I released these sacred turtles back
\ninto the ocean,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Buruan Manuaba stressed that Hinduism was a religion that not
\nonly respected life but also cherished and celebrated it.<\/p>\n
\"The international NGOs have dubbed the turtle trade in Bali
\nas \"Slaughter in Paradise\". We must work to show them that life
\nstarts in paradise, not death,\" he told.<\/p>\n
\"It is simply a matter of educating the Hindu faithful to stop
\nusing religious pretexts for non-religious purposes. If they use
\nturtle meat for meals during traditional parties, then they
\nshould be honest and admit that they need the turtles for
\npersonal consumption rather than for religious offerings,\" the
\ninfluential Ida Pedanda Gde Sebali Kenatan of Lombok stated.<\/p>\n
At the end of the meeting, the high priests issued a seven-
\npoint recommendation, which, among other things, asked Balinese
\nHindus to stop using turtle meat during in religious ceremonies
\nuntil such time as the turtle population was deemed stable by the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"We will present the recommendation at the next Mahasabha
\n(grand convention) of all the country's Parisadha in March in
\nLampung. There is a good possibility that the Mahasabha will
\nagree to adopt the recommendation as a Bhisama (religious
\ndecree),\" Ida Pedanda Sebali Tianyar Arimbawa stated.<\/p>\n
Securing the high priests' support was clearly a major victory
\nfor the conservation NGOs, turtle activists and law enforcement
\nagencies. Not only that, it was also a major triumph for Balinese
\nHinduism.<\/p>\n
\"Today, we see that our high priests have courageously
\ntaken the first step in revitalizing our religion so that it
\ncontains a body of teachings and, most importantly, practices
\nthat place the life and well-being of all living things above
\nselfish, petty rituals. To a large extent, it will be a journey
\nback into what Hinduism once was, a religion of compassion and
\nenlightenment,\" said young Hindu activist Cokorda Yudhistira.<\/p>",
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