Reporters on the Job

You're Not in Afghanistan Anymore: War zones can take their toll on the outlook of civilians caught in the conflict. Staff writer Mark Sappenfield was only in Chhattisgarh, India, for 10 days, yet he struggled with the dark mental climate there. In India, fighting between Maoist insurgents and Indian security forces has gone on for three decades (see story). He found Chhattisgarh more depressing than Afghanistan.

"In Afghanistan, there remains a fierce pride and strength of will, " says Mark. "Perhaps these qualities cause their fair share of trouble, but they also produce an iron defiance in the face of the most terrible atrocities – an unyielding resolution to be unbowed."

"In the jungles of Dantewada district I saw a people utterly broken. Whereas Afghans looked you directly in the eye, chin resolute, the people at the refugee camp had all but conceded, slump-shouldered and speaking softly, staring at nothing."

Mark was told by many people there that the aboriginal people of this part of rural India, often called tribals, are "a simple people" easily led.

"That is a broad statement," he admits."But it did seem clear that these people felt forsaken by their leaders – by the Naxalites who were using them for their own ends, and by authorities who only wanted to herd them into camps. It struck me as a sad lesson on how a gentle people can be broken by those who rule over them."

David Clark Scott
World editor

SURVEY SAYS...

Proletariat Is Passé: Only one in 1,000 children in Shanghai, China, want to grow up to be a common worker, once hailed as the vanguard of class struggle, a Communist Party newspaper said on Monday, a day before the Labour Day holiday. The Party paper quoted steel worker Han Mingming as saying. "Who wants to work with high risk, low pay, and no respect?"

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Reporters on the Job
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0501/p06s01-wogn.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us