Some serious newspapers have raised a crucial question recently—why is the Nepali response to the current atrocities of war so scant? This inquisition has an element of sarcasm: Are we not sensitive enough about world events? However, the main concern is about the silence of the Nepalis or the Nepali press on the colossal suffering of men, women and children caused by indiscriminate bombings and shootings that are reported every day. Given that the scale of suffering and physical assaults has surpassed all known limits, this concern is natural. “The scenes may be disturbing” has become the common warning of news anchors, a constant admonition of the apocalypse, as it were. It seems we live in a time when visuals of disaster jostle to take space in our system of understanding the world.

Among the horrific events that are common are the wars and killings in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan, to name a few. Besides these, more incidents are happening that assail our sensibilities. The common pattern of suffering and atrocities is uncanny. Lethal bombs fall on peaceful cities and suburbs, hospitals and schools. Never before have such insensitivities showing children crawling out of the rubble, crying in horror and women mourning their dear ones, been reported or recorded as today.

I recall one literary event organised by the institution of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) literary writers, held from December 3-6, 2023, in Delhi. The theme of the conference was “Anguish over Senseless Wars.” I want to cite from my article, published in this newspaper under the title of the above-mentioned theme, about the writers’ protest against war: “The anguish felt by the writers about wars, especially the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Gaza wars, truly reflect literary writers’ concern. Non-partisan humanists, creators and advocates of peace and welfare, the writers get hurt more than the others by the colossal loss of lives, including children, in these and other senseless wars. All artists are touched by wars that are truly senseless. There are many instances of writers’ opposition to the wars. But they have paid heavily for such gestures. There is a history of banning books written against wars and other atrocities. In several places today, the voices of writers are drowned; they are even persecuted.” (The Kathmandu Post, December 24, 2023).

The general complaint is that Nepali response to world events is not commonly featured in our media, nor does it occupy a space of importance in serious academic discussions. Maybe we must first look at our response to wars and atrocities in history. The Nepali youths, perhaps more than many others in Asia, have encountered and experienced the effects of world events, including wars, with personal involvement, physical loss of lives, and suffering.

Researchers have discovered the songs composed by these youths who fought in the First World War as British soldiers. As an example, I would like to mention the research works of Alaka Atreya Chudal, a Vienna University teacher. Several such works record the experience of the Nepali youths who fought in the Second World War. That spectre of history continues to haunt and attract the Nepali youths today. I have no space to mention them here. What it shows is that the Nepali response to world events in history had a subjective and existential character. This subject needs a different treatment. Experiencing the effect of world events differs from looking at the incidents and making objective assessments.

But it is natural for us to question today or at any other time about the scanty response to the current horrid events in our political expressions and the media. One Nepali youth, Bipin Joshi, was kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 attack last year. The complaint is that the killings of civilians in the punitive attacks are not sufficiently reported and that people have not expressed their views on the events. But my impression is that we have responded well to these events. Nepali print and visual media are reporting the events regularly.

The other quality of the world events is their diffused and confusing nature. Over the years, the events around the world did not have any recognisable nature. Covid-19 was a crisis that evoked the diverse responses of various world leaders, and the problems became serious after that. World events have had devastating effects on people's minds. In the words of Gordon Brown, Britain's former prime minister, “The world is on fire. At no time since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 has the world looked so dangerous, nor has an end to its 56 conflicts—the highest number since the Second World War—seemed so distant and so difficult to achieve." (The Guardian, April 12, 2024). That remoteness and staggering number of events make it difficult for any media or individuals in Nepal to respond to the events.

Our response is politically and emotionally oriented, a recognisable pattern in the world today. But the conditions that generate world events go beyond the control of those responsible for them. The rise of certain individuals to power with global effects and the temptation to invade others’ territories and kill innocent people indiscriminately appear to shape the patterns of current events. Nepalis who have their own way of dealing with the world do respond. Their expression is shaped by their political ideologies or sheer humanitarian concerns. And that is happening. There is no space to cite examples here.

It is natural for the media to allude to this subject and be surprised at Nepali media’s sparse response to people’s sufferings in all the “senseless wars”. We can question the causes of such a limited response to the terrible suffering of people in the wars. One reason is the emergence of a very boisterous and acrimonious political culture in Nepal, with political groups, media and the public spending most of their time on it. I would not call it solipsism, but this is certainly a subject of concern. Developing a comprehensive vision is the answer.