COMMENT

Government-media relations

The media has a definite role to play whenever a crisis looms before the nation. Moreover, when it is a gripping humanitarian tale of a plane hijack, the media attention is there even more. And accordingly, the interest of the people also increases. It was no different in the case of the recent hijack of the Indian Airlines plane which had taken off from Kathmandu on Christmas Eve. The media went into a frenzy both here in Nepal and in India and it also brought to the fore the plus and minus points of the communications sector in both the countries. For most Nepalese, it was galling to see grossly irresponsible reporting from the Indian media. But at the same time, the Nepalese media can learn a lot from the Indians on how they stand together on matters of national interest. Whether it is during a border conflict, whether it is in a matter of multi-lateral foreign policy dealings or even during a hijack, the Indian media as we just saw and have seen before, remains united in its stance. The coordination and cooperation between the government and the media is also exemplary. That can hardly be said of the cooperation between the officials of His Majesty’s Government and the Nepalese media. One can forget the present hijack crisis, even in normal times, like when leaders are going for talks abroad, there is absolutely no coordination on what stance the country is adopting.

But to come back to the hijacking, it must be mentioned that the Indian media went all out to malign the security system at the Tribhuvan International Airport and within the country as well. It even targetted an individual Nepali, who was mentioned as being one of the hijackers. Now that the hijack ordeal has been over, it has been proved that this person was completely innocent. The point here is that, millions of people in India are still ignorant of that fact. Meanwhile, our political leaders, seem satisfied by just telling a few gatherings here in Kathmandu and the Nepal Television, about the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) standard security measures at TIA and also of the innocence of most Nepalese in matters relating to terrorism. The picture that most people around the world got during the hijack incident, was that anyone could just walk through the Tribhuvan International Airport and Nepal was a hotbed of terrorist and drug activities. Even the highly respected Newsweek and Time magazine went ahead and tried to portray peaceful Nepal in that vein. Such irresponsible description of Nepal was totally false, but our government hardly did anything to control such damaging allegations.

One question that our own political leaders and bureaucrats must ask is, how was there such uniformity in the reporting of the Indian media, even when false accusations were being made? This shows there is coordination at some level between the media and the government. Here in Nepal, information is given on a personal or political party basis. The advisor to the Prime Minister and ministers talk only to a few journalists they know. Or they talk to journalists who have the same political beliefs as they do. Another hang-up for the local political leaders, is their penchant to talk to the representatives of the foreign news agencies. Has any effort been made to evaluate the work of the Nepalese media? For example even during the hijack crisis, what contribution did the Nepalese journalists who work for foreign newspapers and news agencies make to clear the country’s tarnished image? Going by the only negative mention that Nepal has received, it seems our own “foreign correspondents” had no influence at all. Yet, even after small developments, political leaders, including the Prime Minister, likes to call only these stringers and freelancers for close tete-a-tete. Such unplanned and directionless dealings with the media must be brought to an end. When there is a matter of national interest, the whole media sector must be encompassed. There is no room for nepotism or favouritism at such times. For example, even during the recent fake currency case where a Pakistani diplomat was involved, the police informed only one newspaper organisation, just because they may have had close links with it. The government did not care to inform even the officials media, making all of them look like dummies. So without the government changing its attitude, it is difficult to see the Nepalese media changing, even when theirs’ and the country’s interests are at stake.

A vision for the 21st century

An urgent call to leadership

As the 21st century begins, the overwhelming majority of the people in the world who live in poverty are children and women. They are also the overwhelming majority of civilians who are killed and maimed in conflicts. They are the most vulnerable to infection with HIV/AIDS. Their rights, as set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, are violated every day in numbers of such magnitude as to defy counting.

But the pall that these abuses of poverty, conflict, HIV/AIDS and gender discrimination have cast on lives around the globe can be lifted. The conditions are neither inevitable nor immutable. Nor is the international community about to abandon women and children to them. Government bodies and civil groups, organisations of the United Nations system and non-governmental organisations, philanthropies and responsible corporate citizens - as well as children and adolescents themselves - have formed alliances to redress these wrongs.

Ready to take the necessary next step in advancing the well-being of the world’s children, representatives of these various groups are to gather in an extraordinary meeting in the New York autumn of 2001, that will be linked to a Special Session of the General Assembly. Together, they will form a grand global coalition committed to fully meet the goals of the 1990 World Summit for Children. And they will begin the 21st century with a new agenda, clear and passionate about what needs to be done - for all women and all children - before the first decade of the new millennium ends.

Taken as a whole, these many organisations and the millions of people they represent - neither cowed nor intimidated by the challenges ahead - will form an unprecedented international movement on behalf of children. Many have worked long years to better the lives of children, adolescents and women: bringing the convention on the Rights of the Child into being in 1989, setting goals and plans of action the following year at the World Summit, striving in the decade since then to be true to their promises. Others have embraced the cause of child rights more recently, drawn by a particular issue such as child soldiers, child labour or the trafficking of children for prostitution.

Together, they share a belief that human progress and overall development lies in the progress of women and children and the realisation of their rights. They are animated by what has already been accomplished: the proven child survival gains of the 1980s and 1990s, the tenets of the Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the law and spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the achievements in nearing the World Summit goals.

Humanity has seen stunning advances and has made enormous strides for children, many of them in the last decade, many others in just over the span of a generation. Children’s lives have been saved and their suffering prevented. Millions have grown healthier, been better nourished and had greater access to a quality education than ever before. Their rights as put forth in the Convention have been acknowledged and laws to protect them enacted and enforced.

Polio, once a global epidemic, is on the verge of eradication, and deaths from two remorseless child killers, measles and neonatal tetanus, have been reduced over the past 10 years by 85 per cent and more than 25 per cent, respectively. Some 12 million children are now free from the risk of mental retardation due to iodine deficiency. And blindness from vitamin A deficiency has been significantly reduced. More children are in school today than at any previous time.

Despite the many stunning steps forward, a number of the goals remain out of reach for hundreds of millions of children throughout the world. Their lives and futures are threatened in a world marked by deeper and more intractable poverty and greater inequality between the rich and poor, proliferating conflict and violence, the deadly spread of HIV/AIDS and the abiding issue of discrimination against women and girls.

These problems are not new, but they are more widespread and profoundly entrenched than they were even a decade ago. Interwoven and reinforcing, they feed off one another and abrogate the rights of children and women in compounding ways. In some countries and regions, they threaten to undo much of what has been accomplished.

Intergenerational patterns of poverty, violence and conflict, discrimination and disease are not unconquerable. They - like other challenges before them - can be met. What is more, given the resources that the world has at hand, these deadly cycles can be broken within a single generation.

The world must now direct its efforts towards those points where the potential for change and impact will be greatest: the best possible start for children in their early years, a quality basic education for every child and support and guidance for adolescents in navigating the sensitive transition to adulthood.

The State of the World’s Children 2000 seeks to fan the flame that burned so brilliantly for children a decade ago. It is a call to leaders in industrialised and developing countries alike to reaffirm their commitment to children. It is a call for vision and leadership within families and communities, where the respect for the rights of children and women is first born and nurtured and where the protection of those rights begins.

And it is a call to all people to realise a new world within a single generation: a new world within a single generation; a shared vision of children and women - indeed of humankind - freed from poverty and discrimination, freed from violence and disease. r

— UNICEF

Questions do remain

One of the headlines in your Jan. 5-11 issue declared:  Hijack crisis over, but questions remain.  Of course, lots of questions remain unanswered, and I hope in your subsequent issues you will address them thoroughly. 

To give you an idea of how blatantly unreliable news of the A-300 Airbus hijacking has been, just read what the New York Times said in its December 25, 1999 issue:

“Five Sikh men said to be armed with grenades, rifles and knives hijacked an Indian Airlines jet yesterday and killed at least one of the 189 people aboard.”

The next day, the Times reported:

“The hijackers, who are believed to be Islamic militants supportive of Kashmir’s independence from India, are holding 161 captives. . . .passengers freed in Dubai said that the group of five may also have included an Afghan and a Nepalese.”

And the Washington Post said:

“A passenger who was among 25 released . . . in the United Arab Emirates, said on his return to India today that the group includes three Kashmiris, one Afghan and one Nepali.”

For sure, Mr. Gajendra Tamrakar’s safe return home nullifies these false reports.

But the January 7 issue of the Times carried the following story:

“Indian authorities tracked down Mr. Latif in Bombay, along with two Pakistanis — Muhammad Rehan of Karachi and Muhammad Iqbal of Multan — and a Nepali, Yusuf Nepali. Mr. Advani said all four were accomplices in the hijacking and agents of Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s military intelligence agency.”

Could this be another baseless news, or in fact their does exist a Yusuf Nepali?

Also, I would like to see a comprehensive report on what concrete security measures have the airport authorities taken to prevent future hijacking attempts.  The official parroting along the line of “appropriate action has been taken by the concerned authorities” is unconvincing.

Also, what happened to those airport officials who were detained immediately after the hijacking?  Did any truth come out of them? 

Let’s us all face up.  With the hijacking, the country’s only international airport has lost its maidenhood.  Now is the time to regroup and recoup the lost pride and restore the sense of security. 

Uday Lama
Springfield, VA
Via Internet