In Which I challenge Austin Meyer & Nick Kristof!

So many facts skipped over and simply wrong in this article by New York Times titled "India Dampens Nepal's Celebrations" that even opening up the link a second time tires me up. Really "international" journalists- you have to make such sweeping blanket statements regarding the state of my country which is not only ignorant but almost offensive? Even to go through it once more for a mere blog piece is an effort for me in practicing perseverance. To put it mildly, like I tweeted, this is a great example of "parachute journalism". Add to that, the parachute lands in an extremely small section of the country and comes in contact with only a handful of people who are from the same circle. What if the situation in USA is judged just by looking at Donald Trump's tweets or by following the Kardashians? A nation is always a complicated, dynamic thing. Even Nepal is not so simple. It is not just "water buffaloes" debating each other. You can actually view and "live tweet" US democratic debate or any other world event for that matter even when you are in Nepal. But clearly Nick Kristof either did not try that hard to see the debates, or he couldn't let go of that supposedly humorous (but again offensive mindset from an era far gone) reference to water buffaloes in his tweet about Nepal.

Getting to the point, I wanted to make a list of a few things that are problematic in the article written by Austin Meyer who was the trip-winner for Nick Kristof. This list is by no means exhaustive. This article is published under the "on the ground" section of Nick Kristof's page in the NY Times. 

So here goes:

i. The article says that the right wing Hindutva factor in India was angry with Nepal for declaring secularism in Nepal's new constitution. Well, let me tell you that the constitution of Nepal has made an entirely new definition of secularism which is to protect the "Sanatana Dharma and other religions". It clearly spells out "sanatana dharma" which for Nepal is another word for Hindu religion. In the interim constitution, secular did not have any appendages but this current constitution has pushed the nation one step back by declaring that the very notion of secularism is to protect the Hindu religion. Being a non-Hindu, it is still hard for me to grapple with the fact that secularism has been snatched away once again while making it easier through constitution to continue the existing intrusion of dominant Hindu religion onto my faith and my life. So when a Nick Kristof curated article says that India is angry about not cajoling to the Hinduism fundamentalism, it is laughable. And cruel to me.

ii. The article builds on the premises of Dashain and how it is supposed to be the biggest festival of Nepal with 15 days celebration. Had the writer done a bit more studying, they would know that the current constitution was supposed to do away just such generalizations about Nepali society. Nepal is a very diverse country, and although Hinduism is still the dominant religion, now even the state owned media cautiously address Dashain as mainly a "Hindu Festival" observed by most of Nepal. Every community has their own unique and important festivities. Perhaps 10 years ago, this premise would be unobjectionable, but now when so many groups in Nepal are agitating and protesting to change the discourse of what comprises of Nepali identity and culture, this NYT piece again comes off as ignorant and lazy.

iii. Regarding the earthquake "rehab" of Nepal, it is no way stalled due to the blockade by India. Major Nepali political parties had never started any reconstruction effort but started their number game for passing on the constitution and choosing the next prime minister soon after the earthquake. After having stalled the process for about 7 years, they chose this moment-when the people were reeling from two major earthquakes-to go ahead with their shady deal making as if it couldn't wait a few more months when at least all affected community could get temporary relief measures. This not only pushed the earthquake out of the mainstream media coverage, it also delayed whatever reconstruction effort the bureaucracy was making. The National Reconstruction Authority was suspended in about a month of its formation due to the negligence of political parties to legalize it. This was way before the blockade ever came into picture. It has been 6 months since the Nepal Earthquake, and only two weeks since the Indian intrusion. So please, if you want to portray India in a villainous light, do so for the thing that it did and not for the things that it did not and had no role in.

iv. For example this phrase in the article "Traveling around Nepal, there is very little traffic on the roads"!!! Do you know that when you travel around Nepal, mostly you don't see any traffic let alone "little traffic" because there simply are no roads. So clearly this means the author was not travelling around Nepal but rather around Kathmandu or other hill town connected to Kathmandu. And not certainly in the plains because yes you are right the people in Southern plains are on a protest since the last two months which would mean "zero" traffic again.

v. It's just not the Madheshi people who are "not too pleased" with the constitution because they are "under represented". Please care to follow the hashtag #NotMyConstitution to just see a glimpse of the communities who are not happy. It is another matter that only the Madheshi communities were persistent enough and strong enough to continue their agitation this long. And I do not like the silence of this NY times piece about Nepal's deeply patriarchal constitution that has put up quagmire condition for a mother to be able to pass on citizenship to her children. Not that citizenship issue and blockade needs to come under the same article, but this NY Times article which comes off as "all-knowing" in that it touches on  Nepali history to its Eye Care Program, how such an important issue just fell off the pages, I wonder. 

vi. There have been more than 40 deaths since the Madhesh agitation began but no deaths since the "unofficial blockade" began. So the NY Times article lies by omission by putting the "deaths" and India restricting vehicular movement to Nepal in the same paragraph. The deaths happened earlier before the India intrusion began. And now it has stopped. Why did not the writer point that out? Instead, it seems as if the article says that people have staged protests after getting Indian support and few people have died. No this is not the case at all. This is misinformation at its best.

vii. The "general population" of Nepal is pretty divided and polarized at the moment. So, no article on Nepal's current situation should make the mistake of saying "general population of Nepal" thinks this or that. We, the vocal online dissenters, have been crying out loud again and again that Nepal is not just Kathmandu. That the party cadres lighting candles in celebration is not Nepal celebrating. That there is another side to India imposing blockade in Nepal which will be more crucial to Nepal in the long run because it is about the alienation of one of our own. 

It is not expected that any international write ups be 100% factual and correct in every account. But at least some balance is expected. At least an attempt at trying to understand the conflict and the root of the conflict is expected. I expected more from team Nick Kristof. I certainly did not expect them to follow the legacy of the famous Gardiner Harris. Hope this article is just a glitch.

To add to your reading, please go through this article "Madhesis among Us" to understand why a section of Nepal would be only too happy to go all nationalistic when it comes to India. It is a deadly mix of racism and patriotism. And the columnist should be well aware of how dangerous the view point of anybody whose nationalism  is built upon the hatred for another country, on racism and feeding their insecurity complex is.

And if you do need a bideshi PoV in Nepal's current or ongoing interesting happenings, I would recommend following this blog instead. www.everestshrugged.org