PressEthic

I was on the verge of booking a trek through Nepal last winter, when I noticed all the airlines had suddenly canceled their flights into Kathmandu International Airport. News coverage of the complicated civil unrest in Nepal is usually either hopelessly confusing or overly simplified, but the November 2005 issue of National Geographic takes readers inside the country for an educational first-hand report on the conflict.

Writer Ed Douglas and photographer Jonas Bendiksen set off treking through Nepal and ended up spending four weeks with a Maoist army for this article, “Inside Nepal’s Revolution.” But, in a classic display of journalistic objectivity, Douglas never chooses a side in the conflict. Instead, violence itself is treated as the main enemy. Through Douglas’ stories and Bendiksen’s lens, both familiar and unfamiliar themes of war are addressed.

One interesting aspect of the article is how it describes women (or teenage girls, rather) fighting for equal rights in the most literal way possible, a fact confirmed by “casualty figures.” Although women’s rights is a noble cause, Douglas explains:

The rebels recruited a spectrum of disenfranchised Nepalis – women, ethnic minorities, Dalits (or Untouchables), the unemployed, and underemployed youths – offering them hope where there had been none.

He describes one encounter with such a girl, saying:

In the morning we meet Comrade Srijana, a tiny, fiercely determined 15-year-old girl who’s been a party member for two years. The empty holes in her ears and nose show her decision to abandon her traditional culture. “Jewelry is a prison for us. It is a symbol of entrapment,” she declares. “My sisters and I made our mother remove hers too.” As she speaks, her feet tap along to Nepali pop music blaring from a radio in a village tea shop. “The only way forward is revolution,” she says, aping her commanders. “Peace talks won’t give us what we want.” Then she turns her attention to a group of boys who are clearly intrigued by this spirited girl.

Douglas helps readers understand these Maoist fighters, to see that they themselves are victims. But, he also vividly describes the innocent victims of their rebellion, the innocent victims of war in general. This is the first article I have read where the full scope of Nepal’s tragedy is unraveled in a clear coherent objective narrative.