Wait Your Turn
note: please click on the links!
from Kathmandu Post. Limited petrol sales were announced for Tuesday Oct 14th. Each driver carries a "blue book" for registration. If a police stops you, they can make notes in your blue book for the next policeman. When you get your allotted petrol it's written there as well. My FB friends in KTM report that at the end of the day when it became apparent that the pump was shutting down, fistfights broke out as people jumped the line. The level of frustration is high.
Today is the third week of the Siege of Kathmandu. If you click here, you can sort the list of every diary I've posted. I'd been blogging on the turmoil since June, on and off, but it was very clear to me that an event horizon was crossed on Sept 24th.
To block all cargo from the Prithvi Highway? it had been tried but never succeeded for long. The Maoists couldn't do it. Nobody ever really shut down Kathmandu for so long, ever.
The Difference?
I think they have succeeded for several reasons. First, the growing season in Terai is over. In winter Kathmandu gets fresh produce from India, not Nepal. If this blockade had been started in June, farmers would take a financial hit and vegetables would rot in Nepali fields. The blockade is not hurting any garib kasan (poor farmers) in Nepal. Next, the complicity of the India government. Oh, they have never said out loud that it was or was not a blockade. That is one of the amazing things, as entire newspaper columns have been devoted to "is it or isn't it? what do we call this?" But finally, and most importantly, the political unity of people of the Terai has reached a level that I would not have believed possible. The leaders have succeeded as "community organizers" - defining a campaign, putting the opponents on the defensive, keeping their troops together, and explaining the tactics and overall goals - beyond what anybody thought they could do.
My thesis? don't underestimate the power of social media and communication. Mobile smartphones. Web pages. Facebook. music.
we'll give a quick rundown, but I will keep it brief. We are in the thick of Dasain, after all.
Students in a critical care skills class I taught last winter. It gets cold in Kathmandu, and people don't generally have central heat in their home or workplace. I took this photo because the shawls are a necessity and a fashion statement. (I spent 2400 nrs to get a nice one). Even in a good year, there will be elderly persons that die of pneumonia and exposure. If the LP gas shortage continues, tempers in Kathmandu will reach a boiling point. Right now, nationalist anger is directed to India. At some point, if the government can not solve this, communal anger in Katmandu will be directed at the Nepal Government.
Social Media allows gut reactions
photos? in the past months, the Nepalis of the plains posted photos of every atrocity, every wound, and every grieving mother, on the internet. These reinforced the spoken positions of the leaders.
videos? the government sent in riot police. Originally ( in my view) this was justified. Why? because nine police were murdered in cold blood in Tikapur August 24th. The government needed to maintain order. The problem occurred when the riot police over-reacted. Videos that showed unnecessary brutality, callous treatment of injured persons, and flat-out beatings of already-arrested protesters, were widely viewed.
In turn, the leaders posted photos of themselves at various protests, sitting as if for a family portrait, calmly awaiting tear gas under a makeshift awning.
Social Media allows dissent and opposing views
Here is an example of a phenomena. In the past, the government would release talking points via press release to the media, and there was no equal platform for rebuttal. The New constitution released Sept 20th is widely viewed as unfair to women, unfair which to undocumented citizens ( of which there are said to be four million) and perpetuating a system that favors one specific caste over everyone else. Below is a link to a site where this is argued.
Web Pages? Here's a website for the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance it's in both Nepali and English; it includes a button to play their radio jingle.
Facebook? Here's one page. Here's a one-minute FaceBook video with a modern soundtrack.
Here's one from Birgunj that shows street theater.
The Nepalis of Terai have been given a narrative with a sense of belonging.
Now, it's taken awhile for the people of Kathmandu to catch on. But their narrative right now is one of surviving one thing after another, and blaming somebody.
Backed up with logic
The street theater has also been supplemented with actual political positions. Here is a detailed rebuttal of one set of government talking points. I'm not asking you to agree or disagree; I'm just saying the Nepalis of Terai now have an array of communication tools they never had before. http://www.madhesiyouth.com/...
Does Nepal’s new constitution create second-class citizens? Recently the Nepal Embassy caused a stir by rebuking the Indian media for spreading this idea. It released a 500-word statement that was shared rapidly through social media. This article will analyze the Embassy’s endeavour to correct inaccuracies regarding Nepali citizenship........
We cannot say which Indian media statements the Embassy is responding to. However, we can analyze the Embassy’s own statement in light of the new constitution, to see what can be learned or even challenged.
well worth the read....
http://www.madhesiyouth.com/...
In other newsl used the picture of the queued-up motorcycle riders as a lead, but that's not the only thing. What happens when there is no LP gas?
Here's a metal cooker fueled by small sticks of wood. this one happened to be outside a restaurant last summer, but people who have them are now relying on them for home use. In rural Nepal, the kitchen will have a clay stove, wood-fired. Chimneys are not in general use, which is why the typical person with Lung Disease in Nepal is female ( they are in a smoky kitchen all day).
Tourism?
The Associated Press published this analysis of tourism, today, titled Unrest a new blow to Nepal's quake-ravaged tourism industry
Read more at http://www.wral.com/...
And here's one about restaurants
http://myrepublica.com/...
Most of the restaurants in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan have stopped serving breakfast and snacks.
Bhattarai of Paradise Restaurant said most of the restaurants in Pokhara have stopped serving breakfast and lunch and are only serving dinner.
Similarly, Suman Ghimire, vice president of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Sauraha Chapter, said 90 percent of the resorts and restaurants in Sauraha have been using firewood to prepare food while remaining are using briquette". "But we have not been able to serve food as demanded by our guests. Also our service has been delay"d," Ghimire, who is also the executive director of Jungle Safari Lodge, said. - See more at: http://myrepublica.com/...
New Government getting organized
as bad as things may be, the Dasain holiday is still a respite from the tension. I've decided to leave out the political analysis for today - even though there is news that the new government is getting organized and that the new P.M. is reaching out.
can't think of a poll! feel free to comment!