Rats and socks common currency as Press communicates in code

WITH Nepalis living under a state of emergency, civil rights suspended and dissent against the king banned after he seized power, they are reading some bizarre things in their newspapers.

Nepali journalists, especially those who have been through similar crackdowns are finding imaginative ways of commenting about the crisis gripping the impoverished Himalayan kingdom. Editorials and commentaries deal with the behaviour of rats, the importance of trees, the need to appreciate weather and the role of socks in society. To many readers, they are coded comments on the political situation. For others, the overly mundane subjects emphasise what newspapers cannot publish.

“Till last week, Nepal’s press was really one of the most free in the world,” said Kunda Dixit, editor of The Nepali Times weekly. “What a difference a week makes.” Soldiers have been stationed in newsrooms and in some cases are vetting every word before it goes out, say other reporters. “They are making us change words. They are telling us to change the word from Maoist to terrorist,” said one reporter from a Nepali language daily, referring to reports about Maoist guerrillas fighting to topple the monarchy.

The president and general-secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists have been arrested.

On Saturday, a planned meeting of senior editors, federation members and journalists to discuss the situation was abandoned at the last minute when a police van parked outside the offices. Some journalists are on the run.