Seeing Red: Maoist Rumors, Hidden Transcripts, and the End of the 2014 Mount Everest Climbing Season
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Seeing Red: Maoist Rumors, Hidden Transcripts, and the End of the 2014 Mount Everest Climbing Season Ian Bellows Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies Adviser: David Citrin May 2017 Acknowledgements The opportunity to complete a research project such as this has been an immensely gratifying and humbling experience. My endeavor reflects the contributions of many individuals, and as such I am deeply indebted to all those who played in this project. My work would not have been possible without the support those people I had the good fortune of meeting and working with during my fieldwork in Nepal, India, and the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. I would like to thank Nima Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa, and those at the Green Tara for taking care of me during my extended stay in Namche Bazaar; Steve Mock and Pete Athans for letting me visit the Khumbu Climbing School and Phunuru and Mingma Sherpa for hosting me at the Phorche Guest House; Lakpa Lama, for his thorough introduction to the Khumbu; Dan Mazur of SummitClimb Treks and Expeditions and Murari Sharma and Deha Shrestha of Everest Parivar Pvt. Ltd, who tirelessly provided logistical support; David O’Brien, who ably led and organized my Everest expedition; Glen Young, who provided helpful travel advice; and Ben Ayers, whose pointed questions helped shape my thinking early on. Lastly, I would like to thank my Nepali family, Scott MacLennan and Sunita Sharma, Sushila Aryal, Namunaa Lopchan, Usha Neupane, Alisha Lamichhane, Laxmi Lamichhane, Radip Lamichhane, Shanti Rai and all the rest who made The Mountain Fund such a home for me and so many other travelers. I would also like to acknowledge the many ordinary Himalayan adventure travel industry participants – local residents, travelers, trekkers, and mountaineers – that I crossed paths with from Darjeeling to Lhasa, many of whom I interviewed for this project or who contributed in other ways. Although you must go unnamed here, your camaraderie and candor in sharing your experiences constitute the heart of my time abroad and the backbone of this thesis. All of its limitations are mine alone. I would also like to thank all of those at the University of Washington and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies whose assistance was invaluable. Professor Deborah Porter and her relentless attention to detail and logic taught me how to be a better thinker and writer. Maya Magarati, Biraj Karmacharya, and Scott Halliday of the Nepal Studies Initiative at the South Asia Center provided constant critiques and regional expertise to make my work stronger. I would especially like to thank my adviser David Citrin, whose advice, insight, and experience challenged me to engage deeply with a project of deep personal interest. Partial funding for this project was provided by a Cascade Leadership Challenge Explorer in Residence Fellowship. I am grateful to Director Mark Steelquist, Harrison Laird, KJ Clark, Frances Steelquist, and Leo Chrisafis, who fostered my sense of adventure and curiosity about Everest before, during, and after our trip to Asia. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their patience, understanding, and continued support as I spent three years consumed in this project. i Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Literature Review ..........................................................................................................................5 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................5 Rumors ..........................................................................................................................................7 James Scott’s Transcripts ............................................................................................................13 Nepal through a Maoist Lens ......................................................................................................20 Everest: From Public Discourses to Hidden Transcripts ............................................................28 Methodology .................................................................................................................................37 Analysis .........................................................................................................................................42 Introduction to Analysis ..............................................................................................................42 Overview of the 2014 Incident ...................................................................................................45 Himalayan Encounters and the Public Everest Consensus .........................................................53 Political Economic Roots of Hidden Transcripts: Governance, Democracy, and Education .....68 Governance ..............................................................................................................................70 Democratization and Education ...............................................................................................78 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................88 Sociocultural Roots of Hidden Transcripts: Technicalization as Relational Practice ................89 Standard Routes, Fixed Lines, and Everest Reporting ............................................................90 Nepali Outfitters and Professionalization ................................................................................97 High Altitude Labor ...............................................................................................................104 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................118 Conclusion: What Transcript Analysis Reveals......................................................................120 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................125 ii List of Figures Figure 1: Sherpa Adventure Gear “We are Sherpa” advertisement ..............................................63 Figure 2: Deaths on Everest, 1922-2014 ....................................................................................113 iii Introduction At approximately 6:30 AM on 18 April, 2014, a massive serac collapsed onto teams of high altitude workers (HAWs)1 hauling expedition supplies through Mount Everest’s Khumbu Icefall in preparation for the spring climbing season. Sixteen people were killed and nine others injured, three of them severely enough that they had to be evacuated to Kathmandu by helicopter. Despite an extensive rescue operation mounted by witnesses from nearby Everest Base Camp, three bodies were never found. Everest, and the Nepal Himalaya, had suffered the deadliest disaster in its history to date. Even before the grim work of recovering bodies and conducting funerary rites concluded, the first signs of unrest began brewing in Base Camp. What started as a series of high-level discussions in the wake of the tragedy soon devolved into a complex mix of posturing and political theater. The shock and suddenness of the disaster received extensive international media coverage and thrust a number of issues to the fore, from longstanding grievances held by HAWs against the Government of Nepal (GoN) to latent historical, cultural, and economic tensions between Global North and Nepali expedition operators, guides, expedition members, and support staff. For several days the situation at Base Camp remained tense, with a persistent sense of uncertainty settling in as political maneuverings and negotiations between various parties continued. In response to a 13-point charter petitioning the government for a redress of grievances signed by hundreds of HAWs, word arrived from Kathmandu that Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Minister Bhim Prasad Acharya and other dignitaries would come to Base 1. In popular accounts of Himalayan mountaineering, high altitude workers are often referred to as “Sherpas.” Traditionally most HAWs were, and are, ethnically Sherpa men, though this has begun to change in recent years. The ethnically-neutral term “sherpa” denotes an occupation and refers to hired staff that work above Base Camp; they should not be confused with porters, who carry loads below Base Camp, or with guides, who assume specific leadership functions on expeditions and have usually received some level of formal training and/or hold specific credentials. 1 Camp to listen to the HAWs’ demands and offer clarity whether climbing would continue. With the question of continuing the climbing season still unsettled, a memorial pūjā 2 (religious ceremony) for the fallen HAWs was held at Base Camp on 22 April. According to eyewitnesses the volatile atmosphere quickly became politically charged, and after the ceremony rumors began to spread warning that any attempt to continue climbing would be met with violence. These threats were quickly attributed to Maoist3 sympathizers or individuals associated with one of Nepal’s Maoist political parties. Despite last-ditch attempts by some Global North and Nepali expedition operators and guides to dispel rumors and diffuse the situation, the damage had