Throttled by censorship, Nepal's newspapers have found a new way to get their message across to their readers -- cartoons.
Tough media censorship has been in place in Nepal since King Gyanendra took power on Feb. 1, declaring a state of emergency.
Military censors now watch over the publication of news reports, several journalists have been detained, and several newspapers in villages and smaller towns have been shut down.
But cartoonist Rajesh KC -- he uses initials for his last name -- is among a handful of cartoonists trying to illustrate with sketches what cannot be said in words. He works for the country's largest newspaper, Kantipur.
One recent cartoon showed three top leaders -- under house arrest for weeks, and unable to get haircuts -- trying to find a barber to trim their increasingly long hair.
Another showed family members jumping to grab the telephone when a bicycle bell rings outside -- an allusion to the snapping of telephone and Internet links for a week after the royal takeover.
The topics may not sound contentious but reporters have to avoid them.
"We have been able to do what journalists have been barred from doing. Our role has become much more important now and we owe it to our readers to get the messages to them," KC said.
"I have had to draw a line that I cannot cross. However, with every cartoon I feel I am getting bolder," he said.
The one issue he avoids is Nepal's security forces, which can be particularly sensitive to criticism. Army officials have warned him, he said, against drawing cartoons that would "hamper the morale."
Besides making fun of the government and illustrating its activities, the cartoonists also portrayed the difficulties faced by common people due to the recent blockade of highways by the Maoist rebels.
In the Katmandu newspaper Rajdhani, one recent cartoon showed a politician giving a speech inside his bedroom because public speeches are now banned, with another showing detained political leaders asking a soldier if they are allowed to give speeches in jail.
The cartoonists' work resonates strongly with readers.
"These days it seems the only ones who are brave enough to express [opinions] in newspapers are the cartoonists," said Prem Sharma, a court clerk.
In the early days of the takeover, soldiers were stationed in all the newspaper offices, deleting any material they thought was critical of the king or the government. The government later issued a directive to media companies saying they could not publish or broadcast anything against the king, the royal government and the security forces.
Cartoonists are the only ones who have not complied. One cartoon showed a journalist faxing his story and a government censor hiding under the table, reading the story as it is fed through the machine.
Another portrayed a father scolding his son for cutting apart the newspaper, with his wife explaining it was not the child's fault -- the newspaper itself had shrunk.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS