Toon Time

Post 1 February coup by king Gyanendra, soldiers were posted in newsrooms of major publications, directed to spike news critical of the government. But those in the business of news found creative ways around it, including cartoonists who illustrated censorship as they saw it happen. Today, 20 years later, Nepal is supposed to have full constitutionally guaranteed press freedom, but there is pressure on the press. 

Excerpts from issue #253 24 – 30 June 2005: 

The scene is an editor's office complete with computer, phone and cluttered table. But sitting at the desk is a soldier in camouflage fatigues scribbling away. The sign on the door says: 'Editor-in-chief: In'.

Numerous editorials have been written about the loss of press freedom after February First. Columnists have heaped scorn at the curbs. But that one illustration by Nepal's best-known cartoonist, Batsayan, said it most eloquently of all.

His real name is Durga Baral and the 53-year-old artist lives in Pokhara, which allows him a different perspective on the absurd goings-on in the capital. The developments were ripe for ridicule. But in the fear-filled weeks after February First, Batsayan remembers being not so sure about how far he could go.

"I didn't want the editor to get into trouble just because of me, so I held myself back," he recalls. But when he read the columns of fellow-Kantipur contributor, Khagendra Sangraula and saw what Himal Khabarpatrika was getting away with, he decided to let himself go.

Batsayan's biting post-February cartoons boosted the morale of other editors and cartoonists. Playing cat-and-mouse with the censors, cartoonists started going further and taking more risks than writers. 

For archived material of Nepali Times of the past  20 years, site search: nepalitimes.com