Women in and out of media

By SANGITA RAYAMAJHI

It has been over five years since we conducted a survey on the use of language in Nepali print media in relation to the language used for women. The seminar that we had organised to discuss the findings of the survey brought together people from diverse interest groups. The heated debate conducted on 10 September 1999 was an eye opener to us because it brought up new issues in a still newer light. The survey along with the report of the very important discussions from the participants is published under the title Use of Language in Nepali Press (1999). The first thing we learnt out of this was that there was a definite relationship between media and women and that the media showed clear indications of their bias towards women in their reporting. The second was that women did hold a desire to see the difference in all these matters, either genuinely or for strategic reasons. Then was the time, when the image of women’s representation in the media was much hyped about. Men and women, organizations and NGOs openly argued for and against the images of women portrayed very flippantly in the media, either as sex objects or appendages to the male.

But over the years what I have noticed is, as the political crisis thickens women gradually seem to shy away from directly taking part in the issues concerning women’s representation in the media. We could put this statement in this manner — women’s invisibility becomes conspicuous at such times because the reporting is almost always in matters of politics where Nepali women do not seem to figure at all. The traditional forms of news that cover the diverse domains of education, health, reproductive rights etc where women figure directly or indirectly came out on a very low scale during these times. Women’s causes are considered secondary in the present crisis. Moreover they are ‘given’ no position of importance and not much role to play in the present context. And because of the political turmoil women are not creating any overarching women’s organisations either.

Recently a woman became a victim of language reporting in the Nepali print media. The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action included "Violence Against Women" as one of the twelve critical areas of concern to be addressed by respective governments and other agencies. Paragraph 236 of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action reads, ‘Violent and degrading or pornographic media products are… negatively affecting women and their participation in society.’ It had drawn the media dimensions of violence. Srisha Karki killed herself being unable to face the onslaught of the print media. Questions were asked about her; interviews were taken; ‘fictions and fabulations’ were made into facts; BBC picked up the issue with interest in order to interview those related to the scam. Nobody stopped to think what Shrisha Karki’s family was going through as her image was shuttle-corked between the "yeh" and "nay" courts. The concerned media behaved as though Shrisha Karki was the ‘violator’ of social norms by inviting the ‘innocent’ male. But they forgot to realize that they were disregarding the privacy of the victim, publishing names and photographs, speculating on life-styles and past history and indulging in biased commentary.

Five years ago we had mildly but surely reported this trend of targeting women by depicting them in a negative manner, in our survey report Use of Language in the Nepali Press. This method we understood then was simply a way of getting directly to the market. The people savoured (still do) the loaded languages used for women.

This year the world beauty selection and the Nepali beauty selection coincidently fell on the same day, almost the same time on 7 December 2002. The world beauty contest came after it caused over 200 deaths in Nigeria over one article written by a woman that seemed to offend the Muslim community. In Nepal this time the debate about the beauty contest did not arise. I am not particularly critical of the contest, but there are certain methods of reporting in the press and media that make me feel that oh, yes women are still being reported in a manner that treats them as special. The body of a woman as said by Haideh Moghissi, " is the site of struggle between the proponents and opponents of modernity and is used as playing card between imperial and anti-imperial political forces" (Feminism...1999) .

The colonisation hegemony of women’s body is supported by the press by creating what we have said in our report the ‘flacks’ in the media. It is a way of creating hegemony or creating a condition of belief about what they say about women. I am not a radical person, but I always look askance at the media at the time beauty contests that get carried away by the condition of the beauty contest drama.

But more seriously, the media report and the sense of protecting women’s body has been making women victims in South Asia. For example, as reported by the BBC over hundred and fifty, which is larger number compared to last year, women were killed for family prestige in Pakistan. More women were subjected to rape in cities of India especially in Delhi where reports of open gang rapes are reported. Similarly, more deaths occurred in India for reasons related to woman’s body, beauty and volatility this year. In Nepal more women were dubbed witches this year than in the previous years, and the death of Shrisha Karki is gruesome twist of the biased male reporting.

All these were reported in the media but what is the pay-off then so far? Media reporting of women shows that most of these stories were placed in insignificant slots, many a time in the miscellaneous column so that even the readers are bound to take them as insignificant issues, especially more so because they are not strengthened either by a background or a context. When women participate in media works they are not considered the agencies of women’s causes. And that is true because women do not hold the media, they become part of the system.

What comes out to be true is that in the media it is futile to seek a different language for women. When women write they use the same language. In media women do not want to use a different language and style than that of male writers, but what they certainly want to see is that in the media reporting women are not made targets, or singled out in ways that are volatile and sensitive.

The media reporting of women in the past few weeks came during the beauty contest. The wounds that were inflicted through printed words on women following Srisha Karki’s tragic case are far from healed. Therefore in the media reporting of women’s body, their being made exclusive in the media should be looked upon with alertness by women. The media either report in the name of sympathy the cases of women being raped these days or wonder why women who are raped do not report at all. In either case the media interest in this matter does not help. Has the media front-paged the women’s causes in the past year, have women been glorified by the media in the recent times, either the queen, or any female politician, or any other woman of calibre? They only make women the highlights, the candidates for atrocities and exploitation. The media has not been particularly very friendly to women in South Asia. Women’s sugary Femina type media is more petulant and stereotypical than issue oriented and academic.

There is no single conclusion that I could make here. But nevertheless I can say that women and media have been uneasy bedfellows especially this year for the simple reason that in intensively politically engaging situation in the societies the media has a tendency to sideline women’s cases, but not miss a chance to take it up when it comes to humiliating them. The bored male-centric society harps more on the sadistic form of treatment of women in the media when the situation becomes more complicated. So women should create strong, decent and academic bases in the media at such times, and as French feminist Helen Cixous says, women should not look at their bodies as vulnerable targets, but a power that nobody other than women themselves should protect and accentuate with words—a truly strong female discourse. A media alertness means not avoiding it but using it with force, dignity and vigilance. And women should do it themselves.

Easier said than done

By PRAGYA KARKI

Yet another colleague of mine is leaving his motherland and flying to Uncle Sam’s land. I started counting the number of people I know personally, who have flown to the US. Not surprisingly, I failed to accommodate them even when I used my toes, let alone in my fingers! This colleague of mine in sheer happiness invited me along with others to join a mini-party thrown at one of the famous eating-houses. It was an evening gathering. The day arrived and when I was about to leave my mom reminded me "this is winter", and her daughter was quick enough to apprehend what she meant: "Days are shorter, come back soon". In fact it is nothing extraordinary because most of the time, if not always, we are more than able to read the mind of our near and dear ones, if not everyone’s. Before leaving, I checked my wallet not only twice but thrice as I had learnt a pretty good lesson recently from my carelessness. With my wallet loaded and my mind too loaded with my mom’s words, I took to my heels.

By the time I reached the venue almost all of the invitees had already arrived. During the conversation, one of the girls asked a rather rhetorical question, "Why are you leaving your home country?" My colleague in a very somber voice told us that he does not see his future in this country. According to him, there isn’t even a slightest ray of hope that could make him alter his decision and dedicate his energy and expertise to his home country. The sooner he left this downtrodden nation, the better. Well, he may be hundred percent right and the decision made by him sagacious. But, let me think, if brain drain soars up at this rate than what will happen to this already ailed nation? Above all, what about those who have neither money nor muscle power, the essential factor needed to run away from the troubles of this nation?

In the gathering, there was a bunch of young people wedded to their own ideas and principles. Some said that they would also follow his trail, as it was the only option left. While, some crossing their fingers said that every cloud has a silver lining although that particular cloud may not be right now visible in the horizon but will definitely arrive one day.

All of a sudden, our conversation that was going haywire with mixed views and opinions transformed itself into a pin-drop-silence. A young lass left us speechless when she entered inside the venue. Her top made us rethink about this season. She was in a sleeveless T-neck top in winter! I looked at my wristwatch and I could not help kissing my watch, as the time was exactly 5.25 PM. Superstitious souls believe that if they by chance happen to see minute and hour hands entwined, it will bring them good luck! All of us present there, except this iron maiden, fitted ourselves in warm clothes. I must admit, she didn’t bear weather-beaten face but looked all right with her skin exposed to the chilly air of a December evening. One of the guys in a jocular tone said, "See, if she could defy and challenge the Weather Almighty, why can’t we challenge the mortal almighty?" Ironically, this statement was uttered by none other than the same guy who had hosted this mini-party on his achievement of getting a green signal to enter Uncle Sam’s territory.

Staggering economy, solution still elusive

By SANTOSH PANDEY

At this point of time, any one can guess the economic scenario of our country. But, if one goes through the data available, one would realize that the situation is more than gloomy. Agriculture, which accounts for around 40 percent of our total Gross Domestic Product, has risen only by 2.23 percent while the fall in the non-agricultural output has been 2.36 percent. Manufacturing and trade contribute the bulk of the non-agricultural output. In the same period, manufacturing output went down by 9.92 percent whereas trade fell by 10.79 percent. Hence, one can imagine the real situation around.

The reasons behind such a fall are quite obvious. Each sector of the economy, be it manufacturing or trade, has been hit hard in the last couple of years by a number of factors. One of the very factors for our economy to reach such an alarming state has been, without doubt, the ongoing conflict between the Maoists and the authority. There has been a drastic upsurge in the attacks by the Maoists in the last couple of years. The rebels have been destroying the physical infrastructure of the country, which might take years to be rebuilt. In fact, these attacks have greater repercussions than we can think of. They not only scare the tourists away but also distract foreign investors. This is one of the factors for the fall in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nepal, whereas countries like India and China have been milking the same. Forget the foreign investors, even the local investors have started hesitating to invest. In fact, the shrinkage in the manufacturing sector of the economy is due to the shrinkage in the business activities of the local investors. 

The other good reflector of the economic scenario is the NEPSE Index, which has been in a tailspin throughout the year. Tourism, which has always been one of the economy’s mainstays, has found itself plummeting down to alarming levels. Tourists have better destinations than Nepal when it comes to security concerns. Very few people know that the year has been declared as the Destination Nepal Campaign, which is self evident that tourism has been suffering. We can also observe the extent of effect from the performance of the banks during the same period. Economists claim that banking is the first sector to be hit when economy suffers and one can find a classic pattern of just this in Nepal. The quarterly figures published by the banks show an upsurge in their provisions. This certainly means that there is an increase in Non- Performing Loans (bad loans) as they constitute bulk of the provisions. Definitely, a year ago, bankers had a good excuse in the amended Nepal Rastra Bank directives, but now, even the bankers have started acknowledging the fact that it is not entirely because of the directives but also because of the rising number of sick industries. The only good business that banks these days are relying upon is the inward remittance, thanks to the
Nepalese immigrants working abroad.

However, one cannot only blame the Maoist-Government conflict for this state of the economy. There are some other contributing factors as well. Among many, one has been the political instability in the country. In the past twelve years of multi-party democratic system, we have seen as many changes of government. Change in government certainly results in policy feuds because of conflicting conceptions of the government, and this has had adverse effects on the morale of the investors. There has always been contradiction in the policies formulated by the different governments, which only disturbs the smooth flow of business activities. We have seen various good policies in favour of the business community laid down by the authorities from time to time. For instance, there has always been the one-window system in our five-year plans after the eighth plan but that has been limited only to paper. Long and tedious procedures are still prevalent in the government organizations thus making registration and licensing difficult for the investors. On top of that, to make things worst, corruption is rampant in these very organizations. Employment rate, which is one of the indicators of economy also does not look promising. Net unemployment rate here has hit an all time low at 4.8 percent.

To say so in simple words, our economy has been in the edge in the last couple of years. People have been comparing Nepal to Argentina, where bank accounts of the public were frozen by the government because of a sudden collapse in the economy. Definitely, the state here is better than that of Argentina but it takes no time for an economy to collapse. To avoid this, the country needs to make a drastic improvement in all aspects. The first thing that the government should do is try and resolve the conflict with the Maoists. This would pave the way for a lot of development activities in the nation. This would also help a lot to the industrial developments. The other aspect is political stability. Political stability is very much essential to attract the foreign investors. The policies should be formulated in such a way that they build up a conducive environment for the foreign investors. The one-window system, which is there in the five-year plans, should be implemented in the real sense. Similar other policies should be brought into effect to help increase foreign investment and encourage the local investors as well. Tax rebates and tax exemptions should be allowed to the investors of indigenous industries. These are some of the aspects where the government can bring about improvement and from where the economy may just pick up but it all depends on the will of the authorities.

The woe-begotten Packees

PURAN P BISTA

In 1969, Bishnu Prasad Thapa, who hails from Angmung, Taplejung reached India’s Manipur state in "packing". He boarded an Imphal-bound truck loaded with cement bags from Dimapur. And, packing was the only means for every Nepali to enter Manipur because the state had imposed an inner-line permit system on those other than the native people. So every Nepali travelling through Nagaland and Manipur states had to obtain inner line permit before getting into these states. British India had introduced such a system in order to protect the local cultures and dialects of these states. India continues to restrict outside visitors even today.

At that time, the inner line permit used to be issued by the district commissioner of Dimapur, Nagaland to Nepali, Bihari and south Indian labourers. But most of the Nepalese travelling through Nagaland preferred packing to obtaining inner-line permit. The Nepalese, who had settled in these two states permanently but made frequent trips to Nepal, used to obtain the inner line permit from either Imphal or Kohima itself. The Nepalese visiting Burma also travelled through this route as it was closer, cheaper and safer than by air or sea.

"I gave extra money to the truck driver and got into the cement-loaded truck", Thapa says. "But after spending two hours, I had a breathing problem since I was packed like a cement bag and placed in a suffocating corner. If I were caught hiding in the truck by any policeman, then I would have to either return to Dimapur, or would have ended up in a jail. So to get out of the truck was also a risky matter because the Naga state police knew the Nepalese movement on the 39 National Highway, well. For every Naga state policeman, hunting Nepalese was as easy as hunting deer and bear in a zoo, however long a harrowing experience it was for every Nepali Packee", he explains.

After King Mahendra overthrew the elected government led by BP Koirala, the trend of Nepalese migrating to northeast India increased rapidly since most Nepalese living in Taplejung, Tehrathum and Panchthar and their peripheral districts saw no new opportunities which would otherwise have made them to stay back. In fact, these districts are still economically as backward as they were in 1950. Only a road between Birtamod and Taplejung is built and it took almost forty years for the Panchayat regime to realise the need and complete it. Even that has not helped to discourage migration. For instance, the population of Taplejung district has not increased since 1950. Rather, it has decreased as a result of incessant migration.

Thapa was not only one who reached Manipur in packing. There are more than forty thousand Nepali "Packees" who have entered Manipur since 1950. The majority of the Nepali Packees left Taplejung, Tehrathum and Panchthar districts only after 1961. The Packees for their settlements cleared Manipur’s Pukhau valley in 1955. The Packees, whoever reached Manipur, got the right to settle in this valley. They lied to the chief secretary of the union territory, stating that they were the flood victims of the Brahmaputra and had come from Assam’s Sadiya district. Manipur, a union territory at that time, was allocating land to the Hindu Bengali refugees who had left East Pakistan after the partition. At least five hundred families from East Pakistan had arrived in Manipur at that time.

There were three reasons why the people of Tehrathum, Panchthar and Taplejung districts migrated to northeast India. Fifty per cent of the population from these three districts left for India in order to escape poverty. Secondly, the 1950 political change witnessed ethnic riots between the two main dominant communities in these districts. The worst riot-hit district was Taplejung. Though the riots did not claim many lives, the riots shook the settlements of minority population. These three districts had seen no development and consequently the local people were already moving out of these districts. Thirdly, the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Nepal and India gave them a new opportunity to look for greener pastures in India.

The Terai districts, mainly Morang, Jhapa and Sunsari, had been infested with malaria before the US aided project was implemented that finally controlled malaria by spraying DDT in 1961. So there was no point in settling in these districts since they knew that they would certainly become malaria victims. Naturally, the poor Nepalese from these backward districts had no option but to leave for northeast India as the seven states had already Nepalese population of ex-British Indian army personnel and cattle herders or floating population. But the Nepalese who migrated to northeast India after 1950 were basically farmers. They later contributed a lot for the development of that region.

Had the Panchayat regime introduced new programmes for the benefit of these people, this country would have certainly taken a different economic course as the Nepalese people would have got the benefits. But who was there to think anything for the general mass? The Packees would otherwise have found opportunities to lead a respectful life in their own country and serve their motherland in whatever way they could, instead of leaving their country permanently.

‘Death to dictators’
Listen to the Arab conversation 

THOMAS L FRIEDMAN

A recent Associated Press story from Iran about the mounting student protests contained this sentence: "On Sunday, more than 2,000 protesting students chanted ‘Death to dictatorship’ and condemned anew the death sentence against a prominent university professor."

So the students who had practically invented the chants "Death to America" and "Death to the Great Satan" have, on their own, changed the tape. Now they are chanting "Death to dictatorship." And because they are, there is hope for the post-Sept 11 world.

Iran’s hard-line clerics have the power to crush the student-led democracy movement any time they please. They have all the power to do that - but none of the legitimacy to do it. And that is why they are hesitating. The hard-line clerics have lost their legitimacy with a wide swath of Iranians, particularly the young, who have concluded that it is Iran’s own hard-liners, not America, who are to blame for Iran’s economic woes, political paralysis and isolation. .

The fact that the students have identified their real problem as their own bad mullahs, not outsiders, and their real solution as true democracy, not some rigged Islamic version, is a big change. When Arab Muslims on the other side of the Gulf draw the same conclusion - that it is their own autocrats, religious fanatics and education systems that are holding them back, not America - we will be on the road to curing the madness of Sept. 11.

What are the chances of that? Some days they seem very low. Look at the shameful comments just made by Saudi Arabia’s interior minister, Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, who told a Saudi weekly that the Zionists "are behind these events" of Sept 11. Yes, yes, there were 15 Saudi hijackers, but the Jews did it. How pathetic. That sort of escapism - "Death to the other guy" - has retarded Arab development for decades. But here’s the good news. The events of Sept 11 have intensified something I would call "the conversation" among Arabs and Muslims. It has been going on in private for years, but lately some courageous voices are taking it public - shouting in their own press "Death to the old lies."

Consider a strong piece that just ran in Okaz, a major Saudi daily, by the columnist Abdullah Abu Sameh, who decries the fact that Muslim extremists "have stuffed the minds" of some young people "with a fanatic ideology and a faulty interpretation of Jihad - that it is a tool to oppress and dominate others."

He quotes an essay in the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat by the gutsy Abdul Rahman al Rashed, who said that while Saudis were shocked to find so many of their youth involved in Sept 11, "it is better to confront the fact than make excuses.

The cause of the radicalization of (our) youth was the culture of violence that has infiltrated religious education, deviating from the traditions of the conservative ... Saudi society."

To regain peace and reconciliation with the world, Abu Sameh said, "our youths must be re-educated, and violence - a concept alien to our society - must be discarded."

Or consider a fine piece in Al Ahram, the main Egyptian paper, by Usama Ghazali Harb, who says the Muslim world’s predicament today is not the result of some external plot but the fact that "while the vast majority of Muslims keep silent, an extremist minority has hijacked the faith and is steering it into a confrontation with the world. These extremists are supported by conservative forces that fear progress and modernity."

What the Muslim world desperately needs, Harb says, is a progressive model that works - a role Egypt could play even better than Iran. "But," he asks, "is Egypt ready to assume such a role?"

Outsiders should neither exaggerate the influence of these writers nor ignore it. We should understand that they are there, that Sept 11 has emboldened them to emerge and that the quicker we get this Iraq thing over, and the more we can quiet the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the more their "conversation" will gain momentum.

Courtesy : International Herald Tribune

Competitive edge of Nepalese organisations

ATMA SHRESTHA

Come employee promotion season, organisational creatures swiftly start flapping their wings and fly to different directions in a bid to find organisational juices (apparently promotion)! Those who stay put at their usual location are taken by surprise when the result is pasted on the notice board. "No pain, no gain". The winning formula for promotion is, therefore, your speed in finding people who can make it happen. Forget promotion policy if there is any and hosts of tests and interview formalities. Your career development and progress does not hinge on what you have and what you contribute. It’s altogether a different game of personal likes and dislikes and organisational power politics. However, everybody should know this is a sure-shot recipe for corporate failure as it drives away the best people of the organisation and pampers the mediocre.

Career advancement is generally perceived as an opportunity to acquire power, position and more money. This is the very reason why everybody always yearns for frequent salary rise. One can go to any extent to achieve it. On the other hand, organisational policy and practices always favour those who are close to the management coterie – the ‘in-group’ people. The season of employee promotion indeed is an opportune time for those in power to punish the organisational ‘rebels’ who speak against organisational malpractices and wrongdoings. This is indeed a ritual to distribute the organisational resources to those who have a proven track record of having successfully pleased and served their bosses instead of their organisation. No doubt, such management system promotes a work culture based on mediocrity and forces the people with talents and skills to disappear. This is evident from the fact that most of these people either have already left the country or are looking to leave in their desperate bid to find out the place where their knowledge and skills are more valued and respected. This has far-reaching consequences in the overall development of the country. Brain drain is already a major problem facing this country.

Employee career advancement is still not taken seriously in Nepalese organisations. The underlying reason behind such apathy on the part of the Nepalese organisations on this important issue is that we still do not recognise and value the employees’ performance and productivity. Rather we place too much value on the relationship and rapport. This dilutes the competitive edge of Nepalese organisations. Another implication of such management system is that it encourages everybody in the organisation to please their bosses rather than work and contribute to the organisation. What is worse in this system is that management loses the confidence of its staff community, especially of its cream staff that may form 20 per cent of the employee population and contribute 80 per cent to the organisational performance. A 20/80 principle applies. An even more serious consequence of this malpractice is that mediocre people climb the ladder of the organisation and start indulging into power politics to fulfill their petty personal interest at the cost of the organisations. This is the visible and bitter fact in the Nepalese corporate world.

Now, the question arises as to what should be the ideal model for employee career advancement. This is certainly a difficult question that may not have a uniform answer. In a reengineered corporation, a career advancement decision is made based on the ability of the person, not on his or her performance. It is considered a change of job from one level to another, not a reward. There is a distinction between performance and ability in such organisations. They pay for the performance and promote for the ability. However, as the concept of corporate reengineering is still a new phenomenon in the Nepalese organisational context and we are not ready to reengineer our old fashioned organisational and management systems, it won’t be out of place at this juncture to suggest that we at least have a well-defined written career advancement policy to ensure that competent people with imaginative power and good managerial and leadership skills get career advancement opportunities and good performers are well-rewarded.

It does not mean, however, that we do not have a promotion policy; most Nepalese organisations, both government and private, do have one. Some of them are clearly defined and detailed policies giving the nitty-gritty: minimum qualifications, minimum waiting period, performance level, interview performance, and so on, with each criterion weighted accordingly. But the major problem lies in its implementation: people involved in decision making can easily twist it to favour the in-group-people. While performance appraisals and interviews carry significant weight, there is little objectivity and fairness in these respects. This simply defeats and stifles the career development process in the organisation. Until and unless there is a competent and committed team of highly professional management in the organisation, career advancement policy, no matter how good it is, will not work. And this is exactly what is happening in the Nepalese organisational scene.

Employee promotion policy is one of the most important HR programmes that to the greater extent determines the success and failure of an organisation as it decides the fate of its employees. A well-defined and properly implemented career advancement policy can unleash the inner potentiality of the employees by promoting the able and rewarding the good performers. While saying this, one should not forget the social and political environment prevailing in the country and the influence it exerts on organisational affairs. Career advancement policy cannot be an exception to it. Hence, it calls for a great deal of social and political skills on the part of the professional management to resist such pressure so that career advancement policy of the organisation can take the right track and each and every employee gets career advancement opportunities based on his or her ability, performance or contribution. If we can make this happen, it would be a great achievement in the Nepalese corporate governance system, given the prevailing organisational context where career advancement opportunities are primarily meant for a privileged few.