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Phosphene: A phenomenon characterized by the experi­ence of seeing light without light actually being presentSomehow I kept hearing sound bites of the Phosphenes at various venues around town. But I had never been able to catch their whole set until recently. Having seen some­thing about them I was not sur­prised, unlike my friend who joined me, when the audience sat down on the floor in front of the stage ready to enjoy the night. “Why are they sitting?” my friend asked. I feel she thought she was coming to see a rock cover band. Well the Phosphenes are far from that, which is why I want­ed to find out more about the four young people and their music.

It turns out it is not as easy as you might think to pin down their style! “We listen to different art­ists and get inspired—we are jazzy but not exactly jazz, more jazz/pop kind of. We are experimenting with different genres—electronic, indie, psychedelic,” explains Abhishek Pokhrel (vocals and guitar). “We used to define ourselves as an indie band, but if we have to describe ourselves today we would say we are more experimental singer/song­writer stuff,’ says Karna (guitar and electronics).

“Not exactly,” chimes in Pokhrel, “our inspiration comes from the Beatles because they went through many genres and that is what we are doing: exploring. That’s how we are learning. Aside from the Beatles our influences are Damien Rice and Nick Drake, among others. Possibly because we all come from different streams of music. Mine is classical, Prajwal (Aryal, vocal and guitar) is from a metal band…”

“And I don’t have any formal music education. I have just been playing for a long time through what I see and hear,” laughs Karna. And so the conversation continued, but two things they all did agree on: that music comes from the heart. And the fact that writing in English is easier than writing in Nepali.

So why is that? “We grew up listen­ing to English so we are more famil­iar with that language, even although we talk in Nepali to each other,” says Pokhrel. “We are picky about finding the right word in Nepali,” continues Supriya Moktan, vocals and key­board. “We are being asked to write in Nepali, because that is needed to market our music to the Nepali audience. I have been pushing them (Aryal and Pokhrel) to write Nepali songs so we can then travel round Nepal and maybe also attract the overseas diaspora. Within Nepal, it’s easier to market Nepali songs than English ones,” explains Karna. “But everyone can connect with our songs because of the fact they are in English,” comments Pokhrel. “Yes, we tried to write in Nepali but it didn’t work,” laughs Moktan. Again a gentle, light-hearted disagreement takes place.

I asked if, at the moment, they had any regular gigs. I was told that their music is considered a bit too ‘different’ by venue owners. They feel venues place less value on orig­inal music than on covers. Having been together in the current format since 2016, the Phosphenes, along with a small group of upcoming bands, such as Kta Haru and Pahenlo Batti Muni, are now taking matters into their own hands, and are start­ing a movement towards original music. Something is in the air—per­haps some unique gigs with these bands to counter what they feel is an unhealthy market, against bands who play originals. Until then, what they wish for is that venue owners realise how much work goes into song writing and up their appreci­ation. Much like that of their audi­ence, the core of whom are long term fans who have been very supportive of the band since the beginning. In short, this is definitely a band worth watching. Preferably live.

The Phosphenes’ music can also be found on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube.

The expulsion of a Nepali stu­dent from an American college for allegedly possessing fire­arms and threatening to open fire at a poetry event has sparked heated exchanges, both for and against him, in the social media. Supragya Rijal, 21, who hails from the eastern city of Biratnagar, was the subject of legal and institution­al action, following an incident at Colby Sawyer College in New Hampshire. Legal charges have been pressed against Rijal.

The incident revolves around a dinner conversation between Rijal and another student at the college, identified by news reports as Hunter Fitzsimmons. Rijal claims that the conversation was about possession of a firearm by Rijal’s grandfather during his hunting days, back in Nepal. Reports have suggested that Rijal may have told Fitzsimmons, “My grandfather used to hunt, back in Nepal, and he taught me how to shoot guns. I am very good at it.”

The other student regarded that as a legitimate security threat, asserting that Rijal was “planning to shoot people at an upcoming poet­ry event”. Reports have suggested that Rijal said he “had a gun and a permit” and “no one at the school could do anything about it”. Fitzsim­mons then reported the incident to campus security, which forwarded the claims to the local law enforce­ment authority, the New London Police Department (NLPD). Rijal was arrested on October 3.

“He misinterpreted the entire con­versation and understood some­thing completely different,” Rijal told APEX. Rijal accepts that he did plan to attend the poetry event but has denied allegations of planning to incite violence. He declined to comment on other specifics.

Rijal was held in the local county jail for two days, after he, as well as his dorm room, was subjected to a thorough search by local law enforcement authorities. It is not clear if they found any incrimi­nating evidence. Rijal says he was released after that due to “personal recognizance”, asserting that he had received “character references” from other peers and faculty at the institution.

In light of the legal action against Rijal, Colby Sawyer College decided to expel him based on “security con­cerns”, and due to his previous his­tory of “drinking and assault”. Rijal has denied these allegations, stating, “The campus safety report about my prior violation at Colby-Saw­yer as assault is completely false. I have never been a part of any kind of assault”. The campus security department did not respond to our request for comment.

Rijal says his arrest was followed by an email sent to the entire stu­dent body, informing them about the dinner conversation.

When questioned about his own­ership of a firearm, Rijal said, “I have never had a gun or a gun license for a firearm in the United States.” Rijal would not be able to possess a firearm legally in the United States. He has stated that the dinner con­versation was entirely centered on his grandfather’s possession of a firearm back in Nepal.

Colby Sawyer College has also declined to comment on specifics, owing to its student privacy poli­cies. Kate Seamans, senior director of communications, responded to an email request for comment by APEX, stating: “Because of student confidentiality laws and policies, Colby-Sawyer cannot disclose any details regarding the circumstances surrounding any student’s standing with the college… It also seeks to balance the needs and the rights of the individual with the welfare of the community.”

Rijal has vociferously claimed his innocence and has repeatedly stated that charges against him will very soon be dropped. He has also said that he will appeal against the col­lege decision, hoping to be reinstat­ed to the student body.

Colby Sawyer College has provid­ed assurance that all claims will be handled in a professional manner, citing the possibility of appealing the investigation’s decision. The department of communications for Colby Sawyer College has offered this statement on Rijal’s possible appeal: “Students who are found to be responsible for violating the college’s Code of Conduct receive penalties which are based on the nature of the violation.” And, “All appeals are heard by an Appellate Board that is comprised of at least three board members who were not involved in the investigation or prior parts of the hearing process.”

Rijal can appeal only if he is acquitted of all charges, or charges against him are dropped by the pros­ecutors at the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord. Regarding the possibility of acquittal or dropping of charges, Rijal has said, “There is a high chance that they will be dropped soon”. But if Rijal is con­victed, he faces the possibility of deportation. He could be also be deported even if his expulsion isn’t revoked, as he needs to be part of an institution to continue to be eligible for his F1 student visa.

A complete detailed report of the incident is likely to emerge only after due process, both legal and institutional, is completed.

 After more than 100 days of detention, multiple bail pleas and worldwide pressure from media and humanitarian agencies, senior Bangladeshi photographer, teacher and social activist Shahidul Alam was released on November 15. The veteran photojournal­ist had been arrested on August 5 following an interview with Al Jazeera in which he had criticized the government’s violent response to popular protests against poor road safety. This touched a nerve in Nepal as well, where Alam has helped many aspiring photojour­nalists to get proper training and establish themselves.

Earlier, Alam had been refused bail five times. Now that he is free, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam says his office would lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court seeking a stay order on the bail, according to media reports.

The award-winning photojour­nalist, whose photographs have appeared in The New York Times and National Geographic, had been accused of violating Section 57 of Bangladesh’s Information and Com­munication Technology Act. Section 57 has in recent times been widely criticized for restricting freedom of expression and for leading to scores of arrests. The case against him is still under investigation and if convicted, the 63-year-old Alam, who also has a PhD in chemistry from University of London, could face between seven and 14 years in prison, a prospect that makes his supporters in Nepal shudder.

Not just in Nepal. International organizations like the Lucie Foun­dation, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and Index on Censorship, to name a few, had each issued strong statements against his arrest. As had Nobel Lau­reates Amartya Sen and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The 102 days of his detention was also a somber occasion for Nepali photojournalists, who had marked the first 100 days by photo­graphing themselves with his card­board cutouts. November 15 was thus a day to rejoice. But they also know that Alam’s battle for justice is far from over.

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Free at last

The support for detained Bangla­deshi photojournalist Shahid­ul Alam was strong in Nepal. Photojournalists, media personnel and activists here thus joined the online #FreeShahidulAlam cam­paign with gusto. His supporters in Nepal even picketed outside the Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu and from the day of his detention, they had been organizing various other forms of protests. On October 26, Alam was awarded the Photo Kathmandu Award of Excellence during a month-long photography exhibition. Alam has been visiting Nepal since the mid-1990s and many profession­al photojournalists consider him an important figure. “Shahidul da has played a pivotal role in nurturing photojournalism in Nepal since its early days,” says senior photojour­nalist Bikas Rauniyar, recalling his first interaction with Alam in the mid-1990s. “We were just starting then, had no formal education or training and no resources whatsoev­er. That is when we met him.”

At the meeting Alam informed the assembled photojournalists, including Rauniyar, who had only just started in his career, about a free photography course in Dhaka. “So Raj Bhai Suwal, who is now a renowned photographer in Nepal, and I, accepted the offer and went to Dhaka for the three-week training.”

In their own reckoning the train­ing did the duo a world of good. Lat­er, Alam would provide many other Nepali photojournalists opportuni­ties to work with international pho­tographers and learn from them. Rauniyar recalls a time after the formation of the National Forum of Photo Journalists when the media personnel in Nepal wanted to orga­nize a World Press Photo event. The WPP exhibition would be expen­sive. “Since Shahidul da was the first jury member in WPP from our region, he got the fees waived for us,” Rauniyar says. “Thus we suc­cessfully organized the three-week exhibition in 2002 and many local photographers got a chance to learn vital skills.”

Personally, Rauniyar finds Alam warm, friendly, genuine and empa­thetic. “He is like an elder brother,” he says. “Thus I address him as Sha­hidul da.” On Alam’s detention, Rau­niyar is of the view that he was only exercising his freedom of speech, his constitutional right. “The Article 57 levied on him was a draconian and undemocratic clause,” Rauniyar says. “They misused the article to arrest him.”

Another photojournalist Sailendra Kharel remembers Alam as someone with an honest smile, warm hug and charismatic personality. “I first met him during the Ladai Ma Janta photo exhibition that was held at the Nepal Art Council in 2006,” he recalls. “I would meet him again in 2009 in Dhaka at Chobi Mela V, a photo exhi­bition he founded in 1999.” Kharel’s photos on Nepal’s conflict was the only solo exhibit from Nepal at the Dhaka event, in what proved to be a huge boost to his fledgling career in photography.

When asked if the photojournal­ists in Nepal get to exercise more freedom than those in other coun­tries in the region, Kharel replies, “I started my career in 2005 when the country was under the grip of a civil war. I had to report from Nepalgunj and other conflict-hit areas. Those were tough times. But Nepal has progressed a lot in terms of press freedom,” he adds. In the case of Alam, Kharel felt that justice would soon be done because the world was watching and “People are not idiots.”

While his photos have been acclaimed the world over, Alam is also popular as an educator. He set up the Drik Picture Library in 1989 and Pathshala South Asian Insti­tute of Photography (later Pathshala South Asian Media Institute) in 1998, both in Dhaka, from which hun­dreds of students have graduated.

“Dr Alam is a visiting faculty in our college and our college also has a partnership on photography, media and communication training with his institutions,” says Man­ju Mishra, Chairperson of College of Journalism and Mass Com­munication (CJMC). “I am really impressed by Alam’s dynamic, inno­vative and creative personality,” says Mishra, who was also a part of the ‘Free Shahidul Alam’ movement in Nepal.

“Dozens of Nepali photographers have studied at Alam’s Pathshala and he has played a key role in the development of photojournalism in Nepal,” says Nayan Tara Gurung Kakshapati, the founding director of photo.circle and someone who has nurtured countless photographers in Nepal. “I met him around 10 years ago, before we started photo.circle. He has been encouraging from the start. Nepali photographers have not only studied at his institutions but also gotten internships and paid positions in international media through him,” she says.

Alam, she says, includes Nepal in almost every international proj­ect and has arranged for student exchange programs for Nepali pho­tographers in Norwegian and Aus­tralian universities. It helps that “Alam is open and accessible to all budding photographers.”

From protesting on social media to hitting the streets, Nepali photo­journalists were one in their support of Shahidul Alam. But the Bangla­deshi government under the ruling Awami League was unmoved for long. Alam’s release comes with­in a week of Bangladesh’s Minis­ter for Cultural Affairs, Asaduz­zaman Noor, speaking at the Dhaka Lit Fest, assuring that the contro­versial imprisonment would be “resolved soon”. For his countless supporters in Nepal and around the world that day could not have come soon enough.

Eminent Nepali writer and journalist Aswini Koirala has been honored in Japan for his contribution to Nepali literature and journal­ism. He was feted at the Inter­national Nepali Haiku Conven­tion 2018, jointly organized by the World Haiku Organization and the International Nepali Literary Society, Japan Chap­ter. The program was held in the premises of the Nepali Embassy in Japan. Eminent Japanese writer and director of World Haiku Association, Ban Ya Natu­ishi, honored Koirala with a certificate and cash. At the event, Koirala’s new book ‘Parijat’, a collection of Nepali haiku poems, was also launched. Koirala is the writer of bestselling Nepali novels Premalaya and Zukerberg’s Café.

“I am really happy to honor a celebrated Nepali writer in Japan. I hope this opens doors to a strong literary bond between Nepali and Japanese literature,” said Natuishi.

“This kind of program will strengthen cultural ties between Nepal and Japan,” said Krishna Chandra Aryal, First Secretary of Nepali Embassy in Japan.