War on in Nepal but world can't see beyond Kabul

War on in Nepal but world can't see beyond Kabul
December 2001

Times of India

No media. No war. Even as Nepal reinforces troops fighting Maoist rebels, an absurd farce plays itself out in the capital. Major battles are taking place in the villages and on Sunday, the Maoists attacked government installations and a foreign aid agency. But a lack of information and media management skills have
combined to black out reality.

The blood and deaths remain unreal, casualties of being out of sync with the information age where seizing the microphone the camera is necessary to prove existence.

Only a handful of journalists are hovering around Kathmandu, as frustrated asthe local scribes by the scarcity of news. Not too many could be flown into Kathmandu. Afghanistan still continues to hold the baton in the attention span of a self-obsessed international audience.

Why is the media not here? Are people convinced this is a local skirmish? Are they convinced it will end this week? Do they know that the problem is manageable? Not really. The history of Maoist control over large areas and the inexperience of the army in battling them are factors that suggest an enormous event maybe unfolding in this region.

The reasons why this is not getting attention are crude: there is no instant information to whet the appetite. There are no spin doctors to tell their stories. Reaching the remote areas where the battles are being fought is dangerous, difficult and enormously expensive.

The few teams that have gone there have not brought back much and it was only on Saturday that one international agency chartered a helicopter to fly to one of the affected areas. In a cost-benefit analysis, this war just does not sell, remaining an unreal rumour floating down from the hills.

The citys infamous traffic jams are perhaps the best barometer of the continuing normalcy.

Yet just below the surface, there is a sense that all is not as it should be. Thamels bustling bazaar shuts early, as early as nine where they were kept open till nearly midnight.