Nepal: Don’t Believe the Media
A Revolution is occurring in Nepal. Western media is misrepresenting the story, subtly backing the entrenched monarchy by careful use of language. Never mind that King Gyanedra killed his own brother to gain the throne; that’s what Monarchies are made of - traitorous family values. Westerners want to believe in beneficial little kingdoms in our modern world; they’re quaint. The reality is more akin to the modern rhetorical posturing reminiscent of a certain self-proclaimed “Super Power,” wherein lying is the defacto methodology and brute force is the path to cowering the people. (Okay: so we’ve not gone the brute force route - yet.)
In response to my last post on Nepal, I received a welcome comment (I don’t get many…) in the form of three links to a blog by Paramendra Bhagat, who is watching the developments closely. I suspect he has family in the region. Nonetheless, he is eloquent and much more knowledgeable than I. Check him out here.
These days, I’m inclined to listen the news spin and instinctively side with the commoners. In such cases as Nepal, people don’t consciously gather to oust a beneficial government, as most humans prefer stability in their lives over chaos. But the media keeps playing on the phrase “…Opposition to the absolute rule of Nepal’s King Gyanendra, who vowed to return political power “to the people” the day before.” As CNN puts it.
How many times can national leaders lie to the public before the media catches on? That’s a rhetorical question, folks. The answer: an exponential number relative to the amount of dollars invested by said government into media-related lobby interests. Just what CNN and it’s ilk has to gain by painting the citizens of Nepal as the irrational party is beyond me. If one reads the news carefully, connections are being drawn via careful phrasing of the facts to link the commons with the local Communist party; a move that is sure to raise the hackles of ignorant Americans and others. Likewise, a new term is being used to further the demonization of the people, who some say are under the influence of “Maoist ‘terrorists.’”
That T-word, again! I’m getting sick of its over-use.
These are normal, everyday people rising up against a questionable power. No terrorism is involved here, except the escalating tactics being used by the Nepalese government to suppress dissent - but if a government is doing the suppressing, it cannot by definition be labeled as terrorism; that’s a term reserved for non-government-sanctioned organizations. Nevermind the results being uncannilly similar…
For whatever reason, our news outlets are spinning away, distorting the facts. Don’t believe everything you read. But you knew that already.