At an interaction program "Role of Nepal Press Union on Burning Issues of Working Journalists" organized by Nepal Press Union (NPU) on Tuesday on the occasion of the International Labour Day, they stressed on strengthening security of media persons as it is becoming serious day by day. [break]
They said though the government has formulated required laws for the rights of journalists, numerous challenges have piled up before the working journalists and that they were facing growing physical and professional insecurity due to lack of effective implementation of laws.
On the occasion, leader of the Nepali Congress, Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat said that the state was weak in protecting the media persons when they are becoming the victims of attacks from all sides due to their political ideology and conviction.
He stated that the Janakpur incident on Monday was the latest example of state´s weakness.
Mahat complained that Nepali media houses have been neglecting social responsibility though the media houses were becoming result-oriented and qualitative.
Similarly, the UCPN (Maoist) leader, Narayan Sharma pointed out that the media persons should play the main role for institutionalizing the achievements of the democratic movement.
He added that all unions should be united against attacks on media persons.
Leader of the CPN-UML, Pradip Gyawali stressed ensuring security to all the citizens at a time when the political system needs to be made stable, democratic and responsible to people, adding that state restructuring was necessary for maintaining harmony among the people in the country.
Leader of the Nepali Congress and founder of the Nepal Press Union, Shobhakhar Parajuli, said that the Nepalese journalism should discourage all kinds of malpractices in the country by adopting a more responsive approach and respectable form of journalism establishing democratic norms and values.
Senior journalist Taranath Dahal presented a paper on ´Contemporary Problems in Nepali Media and Role of Press Union´ and stressed on making the state and the management at the media houses serious on practical implementation of the Labour Act and the Working Journalists Act.
Similarly, former President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Dharmendra Jha, presented a paper on ´Challenges of Working Journalists´ and stressed on running a campaign for the structural reforms in the media policy and laws to ensure press freedom and pluralism in the media world.
Nepal Chief of the Frederich Ebert Stiftung, Devraj Dahal, journalists Kulchandra Wagle, Gagan Bista, Bishnu Nisthuri, Khil Bahadur Bhandari, Samirjung Shah, Anil Yogi, Ekraj Pathak among others said the bodies concerned should be serious for the security of Nepali media, professional security and implementation of the Media Act.
Related story
Safer migration: Effective implementation of existing laws
