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December
2005
| Picturing
war - Can anyone look at these pictures and continue the killing? |
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War
is hard to capture. The heart of war is a schizophrenic place where extremes
of love and hate, heaven and hell, touch and ignite each other.
Few
photographers can capture this. But when they do the image is never forgotten
and sometimes even change the course of history. A little Vietnamese girl,
naked, fleeing a napalm attack, the soldier in the Spanish civil war caught
at the moment of his death, Saddam's teetering statue or prisoners being
tortured at Abu Gharib, these images lie buried in our minds and hearts
and have become part of humanity's common consciousness.
When
Nepal's conflict began in 1996, it was one without images. There were daily
reports of increasing body counts but no photos. We did not know what a
baltin bomb looked like. Today, with digital photography, Nepali photojournalists
have amassed a lot of visuals. My own collection is bulging with photos
cut out of newspapers.
November
2005
| Banned
Nepal station back on air |
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Prachanda
gave the BBC his first ever radio interview
A
Nepalese radio station is back on air, a day after the government closed
it to stop it relaying a BBC interview with Maoist rebel leader Prachanda.
The Supreme Court said Tuesday's ruling was an interim order. A final verdict
on Radio Sagarmatha is due next week. The station resumed broadcasts immediately,
but has not relayed any material from the BBC's Nepali service.
Police
raided Radio Sagarmatha late on Sunday and arrested five staff after it
announced it would air the interview. Following Sunday's raid, the BBC
News website was inaccessible in Nepal for a period but became available
again on Monday. Access to the BBC Nepali service website remains blocked.
November
2005
| Women
warriors |
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After
walking three days from Biratnagar we reached Bhanjynag Kharkha. From the
rebel activity on the pass it looked like the comrades, many of them women,
were massing up for an operation. But there is still a month of the unilateral
ceasefire to go and it turned out to be just a regular military exercise.
The
Maoist training camp was intensive and strict. It ran from dawn to dusk
and was led by a female trainer. Nima and Rima are sisters in their teens.
With assault rifles slung over their shoulders and grenades on their belts,
the two lined for morning drills.
Nima
and Rima were 14 and 16 when their parents garlanded them and sent them
off to join the Maoist militia two years ago. Since then the two have taken
part in famous battles like Bhojpur and Siraha.
November
2005
| Frontline
teachers |
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As
a teacher, Dhan Bahadur Khadka used to walk around his village urging parents
to send their children to school and chasing after the students who missed
class. The villagers looked up to him for advice and information. He was
respected, and everyone called him 'Guruji'.
That
was 10 years ago. Ever since the Maoist 'Peoples' War' began teachers across
Nepal and especially in these remote mountains of central Nepal have become
pawns in the conflict.
Teachers
like Khadka are prime targets of Maoists for extortion and have to pay
five to 10 percent of their meager Rs 3,000 monthly salary to the Maoists.
The rebels often abduct teachers along with students for weeklong forced
indoctrination, and in their 'base areas' the Maoists force teachers to
follow their 'revolutionary curriculum' or face punishment.
September
2005
| Nepal:
Bloody Country |
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Riven
by a violent civil war and beset by political repression, Nepal inches
toward the brink of chaos.
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