Mahat’s follies

Nepal, however, deserves criticism for its inept handling of the crisis in relation to communicating with the international community and the people. Referring to ‘reports’ Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, on May 13, posted a tweet, “Reports says missing US chopper with crew safe in Singati power substation, Dolakha; cannot fly due to landslide nearby.” This tweet was likely seen by thousands of viewers and re-tweeted by 89 of them. But Minister Mahat, an economist by training, didn’t seem worried about the unpleasant consequences of his false communication. Furthermore, as he was not entrusted to officially speak on behalf of the government in relation to relief and rescue operations, he got away with it.

On the same day, May 13, the UK-based Daily Mail ran a story titled, ‘Search continues for U.S. Marine helicopter with eight people on board despite Nepalese claims it landed safely’. This report clearly corroborated Minister Mahat’s tweet as false;

some even termed it ‘a bogus tweet’. The Daily Mail also quoted a Marine Corps spokesperson in the story. The quote read, “Information about missing helicopter reported by Nepali media is not true. Nothing found yet.”

When the truth about the missing chopper came to light on May 15, Mahat contradicted his own previous tweet and bald-facedly tweeted, “Tragic news of crashed chopper at 11200 ft Kalinchowk, Dolakha reported by NA. Saddened at d loss of brave ppl at humanitarian works.”

No reference was made to his earlier tweet which had claimed that the chopper was safe.

This incident shows how a senior cabinet member, who is also an intellectual leader of the ruling coalition, can seem to illiterate in crisis communication. But it also offered social media an opportunity to better understand such ‘academic’ leaders, tarnishing Mahat’s image and that of the Sushil Koirala government.

Speaking officially

Though the prime minister and ministers have press advisers, they do not seem to be functioning well. The leaders themselves seem to abhor communication and are unfriendly to the media. Thus, it is a big challenge to make them understand how a sound communication strategy can help in effectively handling a crisis. Effective and honest communication can also helps the government burnish its tarnished image and assist its efforts to garner national and international support.

But take the example of Minendra Rijal, the spokesperson of the Government of Nepal and Minister of Communication and Information. On Twitter, Rijal follows 19 others, including 11 international and three vernacular media; but he only has 386 followers. Interestingly, Rijal does not introduce himself on Twitter as the government spokesperson, although he tweets about activities he has undertaken in his capacity as Minister of Communication and Information. No other regular communication, including media and outreach activities, have been undertaken with respect to the disaster.

In crises, communication can plays a critical role in saving human lives. After the Gorkha earthquake, many suffered from fallacious stories and rumours. Social media networks were very effective at disseminating such rumours. Sadly, there was no official channel of communication to clarify such ambiguities and uncertainties. Although the government has mechanisms and channels of communication down to the VDC level, victims of the quake witnessed no pervasive presence of the government machinery during the disaster. The International Federation of the Red Cross, an organisation specialised in dealing with crisis response, in one its World Disaster Reports, has rightly remarked, “People in crisis need information as much as water, food, medicines or shelter.”

Unfortunately, the prime minister, the ministers, and respective government entities paid no attention to this crucial aspect of the crisis—the timely flow of accurate information. Accurate, credible, and sensitive information through the rights channels during a time of crisis can be critical to preventing further damage.

To add insult to injury, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who was on an official trip to Indonesia, was rumoured to have learned of the quake through a tweet about the earthquake by his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Whether this is true or not, such claims provide the impression that the PM Koirala has no aide or adviser to report and advise him on emergencies and crises.

Lose the ambiguity

But like every cloud has a silver lining, this crisis offers an opportunity to rebuild Nepal, together with the state restructuring process. But in order to garner national and international support, the government, without any ambiguity, will have to effectively communicate with respective agencies and the people, as communication is complex and even a slight oversight can lead to gross misunderstandings.

Communicating with a heterogeneous mass during times of crisis requires special expertise to successfully cope with the situation. For the future, Nepal needs a strong team of committed professionals and a sound communication strategy to communicate and publicise Nepal’s reconstruction journey.

Gurung is a former Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal