India’s ‘mainstream media’ must move beyond Oriental tropes in their coverage of natural disasters in the northeast

The news website The Print deserves commendation for remembering the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) that struck Sikkim on October 4, 2023. Unlike other prominent media houses that may have overlooked this significant event, The Print reported both in text and video formats on the first glacial expedition being conducted by a 56-member team from the department of science and technology, the State Disaster Management Authority and Sikkim University, with support from the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

However, a closer analysis of the reports revealed how the "mainstream" media presents a rather simplified and standardised idea of the people and societies located in northeast India. It also showed how the media contributes to creating a popular and pervasive stereotypical image and therefore fails to understand the issues raised by people and communities located far from their headquarters in major cities. 

There are five tribal communities in Sikkim: Bhutia, Lepcha, Limbu, Sherpa and Tamang. The northern part of Sikkim, where the expedition was conducted, is predominately inhabited by Lepchas and Bhutias.

Rakesh Kumar Ranjan from Sikkim University, in his interview in the report, informed that the expedition was part of a project for risk assessment of all the glaciers in the Himalayas. The expedition was originally planned to be started on August 28 but due to the resentments from the public, it had to be postponed to August 31 and concluded on September 14.

Framing conflict and resistance 

All journalism textbooks suggest conflict as a key news element, and this especially remains true in the context of Indian media coverage of the northeastern states. In fact, there are a few select themes like conflict, violence, resistance, insurgency, natural disaster, stories of distant tribes and tourism that attract mainstream media’s attention towards the region.

The huge coverage of recent violence in Manipur, or GLOF in Sikkim in October last year are a couple of examples. Among these, conflict holds the highest significance, so much so that even when the people or communities displays some form of resentments Indian mainstream media is quick to frame it as conflict. 

The Print wrote the following headlines: Sikkim's war on GLOF: Monks, shamans and scientists are all in the fight and Sikkim conducts 1st glacial expedition since 2023 GLOF amid climate change, resistance from villagers for text and video reports respectively. While the use of warfare metaphors is common in media language to draw attention to a crisis or disaster but words like war, fight and resistance also carry a certain negative connotation particularly in the context of northeast India.

Also, while armed insurgency by some groups, the counter-insurgency operations by the Indian state and violent clashes between some communities do exist in the region, it is important to recognise that the region is much more than just these phenomena.

Be it intentional or unintentional, such lexical choices are coming from framework which Indian mainstream media has constructed for itself and others to view the region.

Roots of Resentment: Faith vs science?

While trying to explain the resentment among some members of tribal communities against the scientific expedition mentioned earlier, the journalist in the video report narrated “but while the state is chalking out a detailed plan, they are up against the religious beliefs of the indigenous tribes who believe that excessive scientific interference with the region’s eco-system caused the 2023 GLOF. They are also terming the visit by a team of Swiss experts days before the 2023 disaster bad luck. The community now believes that the Gods are angry.”

The statement creates a contesting binary by assigning different values and hierarchies between science and faith in Sikkim. This further feeds into the cultural stereotypes portraying people and communities in Sikkim as static or stagnant by essentialising culture and religion, which makes it difficult for them to appreciate the values of science, rationality and development.

Moreover, the report seemed to assume an unquestioned acceptance of scientific study of the glacial lakes to a point that it almost ridiculed the resistance against the team of scientist to a mere angry tribals wielding sticks and stones. Not only do these formulations fail (or don’t bother) to understand the issues those people or communities are raising and the reason they are resenting, but it also perpetuates an orientalist thought system. 

But why might some tribal communities in Sikkim appear resentful towards a scientific study? The straightforward answer is they are not. It’s feels funny to say this but tribal communities of Sikkim (or of any other state) are not like stereotypical portrayal of tribals that we see in the media, particularly popular media.

Unfortunately, portrayal of tribal communities in the media still suffers from the images and ideologies of orientalism that create a rather imaginative distinction of tribals as a distinct and distant culture.

The tribal communities represented through the lens of orientalism often reduced to stories of either fetishisation of tradition and culture or stories that portray them as passive victims of state.

Coming back to the question, the people were / are not against the scientific studies as the report might suggest. Rather, they are resentful about the marginalisation of traditional knowledge when it comes to the preservation of environment, protection of nature and the utility of developmental projects. The marginalisation of traditional knowledge also results in the lack of participation of local communities in decision making processes. 

Additionally, lakes, rivers, hills and mountains hold sacred significance for various communities in Sikkim. Maintaining cleanliness is essential to preserve the "purity" of these sacred sites and there is always a concern about potential littering or tampering of such areas.

This concern also arises due to the tourism in the state. One of the negative aspects of tourism is the litter it generates. The careless disposal of waste by tourists is a significant concern. In the minds of the people, Gods are not angry because scientific studies are being done in these locations but because of the assumption that scientists, much like the others who come and visit the state, have little regard for the cultural and social practices of the people.

Scientific studies are also done or have been done before the construction of dams for damage assessment and protection in Sikkim. And people in Sikkim share a rather contested relationship with the construction of dams due to the concerns related to ecology, environment, livelihood and culture.

Moreover, people in Sikkim have seen how the 1200 megawatts Teesta III hydropower dam located in Chungthang in North Sikkim was washed away in a GOLF in 2023. 

Apart from these, there are other recent issues. The roads that were destroyed or washed away during the GLOF last year are yet to be fully restored.

As road transportation is not just vital for daily commute of people and goods but also for tourism on which the livelihood of most of the community members depends upon, community leaders have been raising the issue of delay in restoration of road transportation. Houses that were built with lifesaving were washed away or damaged beyond repair. Many are not being able to come back to their villages and many don’t have any home to come back to.

The coverage of media on natural disasters are usually limited to the coverage of deaths and destruction that are visible immediately after the incident. Such “disturbing” images / stories are presumed to attract the readers / viewers.

The discussion, debates and negotiations related to compensations, rehabilitation and restoration works that continues months after the incident is of no concern for the same media. Due to this, even when some media houses like The Print attempt to give space to these issues, at least during the anniversary of the incident, it becomes mere tokenism and leaves a lot to be desired.

Ugen Bhutia is an assistant professor, department of media studies, SRM University, AP. Maanvender Singh is with the department of history, SRM University, AP.

Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth.