Central Asia: Oct ‘08

IWPR reporting on a demonstration which turned violent in southern Kyrgyzstan set an example of how to cover the highly sensitive issue of Islam and the state, media experts said.

In the report, Islamic Protest Sparked by Official Insensitivity, published on October 14, reporter Yrys Kadykeev spoke to all sides in a dispute between residents of the town of Nookat and their local government.

After officials in the town turned down requests for a celebration to mark Eid al- Fitr, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan, disgruntled young men took to the streets on October 1. The disturbances escalated into stone-throwing and clashes with local police, and ended only when riot squads were drafted in from elsewhere.

As the reporter discovered, even a localised protest has all sorts of political and social ramifications.

Officials said the 30 or so people arrested after the unrest belonged to Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical Islamic group. Yet, however true this may be, the fact that people in Kyrgyzstan often perceive their local authorities as unresponsive to their concerns is a real problem.

Disputes are left to fester and positions on either side harden to the point where compromise becomes impossible. In such cases, the authorities tend to stick to the official line, oblivious of the risk that their opponents’ growing sense of impotent fury could be channelled by radical groups.

The IWPR report was raised at a meeting in the southern city of Osh, held on October 31 to discuss how to resolve tensions left by the trouble in Nookat. The event was attended by local government officials and members of the government agency for religious affairs, as well as journalists and human rights activists.

The moderator of the meeting, Alla Pyatibratova of the Osh Media Resource Centre, said IWPR’s report showed how difficult topics of this kind can be tackled fairly and honestly, without the author falling prey to emotion or bias.

“As I prepared for the round table, I read numerous articles about the events in Nookat, from a variety of sources. I can assure you that IWPR’s reporting set an example for how sensitive topics like religion should be covered,” she said afterwards. “This report helps resolve problems, rather than the reverse. It contains a balance of opinions, thorough factual reporting, and impartiality.”

Aliya Sharipova, who heads Citizens Against Corruption, a human rights group, argues that the media in Kyrgyzstan often just report the bare facts without providing the kind of analysis that would help readers find out what is really going on.

“Our news agencies provide general information – some facts, but no explanation as to what they mean,” she said.

Mahamadjan Hamidov, who is the Vecherny Bishkek newspaper’s correspondent in southern Kyrgyzstan, insists that when journalists write about religious matters, they need to avoid resorting to the spectre of Islamic extremism to scare their readers.

“It’s as though when journalists here report on something, they follow a narrow path that has already been laid out for them,” he said. “Their reporting lacks neutrality. Very often they engage in harsh criticism and assume a judgemental role.”