More of Lao, less of Mao

by ABHA ELI PHOBOO

FROM ISSUE # 157 (January 2009) | IN THIS ISSUE
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BIJAY GHIMIRE

It was September 2004b. A day when the smell of burnt tires filled the Kathmandu air and the sky was swirling grey smog. That same day, a group of people forced their way into a media house and broke equipments, beat up people. It was later proved to be a premeditated attack against those who had written against oppression and for the right of the individual to speak up for themselves. Eventually, the monarch-led regime, which tried so hard to rein in its control and make the media kowtow to his will, realised that he had lost.

Enter: a different government, one that promised us a Naya Nepal.

The people had voted for their last hope–the Maoists, a group that had killed and maimed the population but had shown commitment to their cause, even though their means were extreme. Compared to the corrupt politicians, who had been given chances time and again, the Maoists seemed to really want to get things done, so why not give them a chance?

Fast forward to December 2008.

A day like any other when the cold wintry Kathmandu air bared its teeth to your bones. A group of people forced their way into a media house and broke equipment and glass, and beat up people.

Now voters are left wondering what Naya Nepal really entails.

Will those that govern us ever learn that violence is never the answer? The more you try to hold on to sand, the more the grains fall away. Tightening the reins of power and beating people into submission has never broken the spirit of people who believe in what they do. We have living proofs: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mohammad Nasheed and Ingrid Betancourt.

Under the previous government, the media continued to publish articles and opinions about the Maoists and other sections of society despite censorship and threats. Articles by Maoist leaders and supporters of the king were published side-by-side many a time. One would rationalise then that the Maoists would be the first to understand that the media is a mirror of society, a watchdog of the government, a barometer by which the freedom of the people can be measured. When a newspaper says only good things about a certain party or another, it stops being a medium of information for the people. It becomes a megaphone for the party's ideology.

To be the media or the medium through which information can be disseminated, a newspaper must publish differences of opinion. It must investigate and reaffirm facts. What it publishes must be in the best interest of the people, not the ruling government. Hence, it was odd that Prachanda, upon being declared Prime Minister, warned Kantipur publications in early April against criticising the Maoist government. It was even more shocking when only last week a Maoist-affiliated group vandalised the property of Himalmedia and beat up people because the media house's publication had printed investigative stories condemning the party's affiliated groups for unchecked violence. Ironic…

The Nepali media is protesting creatively by printing blank editorials again. That such a need should arise is testimony to the fact that the Maoist leaders must take concrete action in order to change the attitude of its party members. Nepal has been declared a Federal Democratic Republic and it needs to uphold the ideals that these words entail. Perhaps it is time that the Maoist leaders read more of Lao Tzu and less of Mao Tse.

Abha Eli Phoboo was editor of WAVE from 2005-2006. She is currently studying Creative Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma in the United States.