Tensions ran high this time last year as the Constituent Assembly entered the final few days of its four-year-long existence. Pressure was mounting from all kinds of vested interest groups for a constitution of their choice. Passions ran so high that even common decorum was flouted in many places. One of the main victims of this heightened passion was free press. Freedom Forum, an NGO working for freedom of expression, documented 88 cases of violation of press freedom in a two-week period spanning May 8-24, 2012.
Then in January, 2013, 22 journalists had to leave the far-western district of Dailekh fearing retaliation by cadres of UCPN (Maoist) for reporting on the case of Dekendra Thapa, the Dailekh-based journalist who was murdered during the insurgency. These signature cases are clear indicators of the unsafe and rather challenging working climate that Nepali journalists have to operate in. Two recent cases—of indiscriminate beating of RSS journalist Ramesh Lamsal and the Supreme Court’s decision to curtail the movement of journalists inside its premises—buttress the same point.
Of course it is not all gloom and doom for Nepali journalism. In recent times there have been some laudable interventions from the judiciary to bring the violators of press freedom to book. For instance, on April 22 Morang District Court sentenced two persons for an assault on Biratnagar-based Khilnath Dhakal, a reporter with Nagarik daily. Likewise, on Feb 25 Jhapa District Court sentenced Yuvraj Giri, the main accused behind the murder of journalist Yadav Poudel, to life imprisonment. This is in addition to the momentum in the investigation of Dekendra Thapa’s murder. Still, prosecutions are few and far between: FNJ, the umbrella organization of journalists in the country, recorded 227 cases of attacks on media persons, including abductions, disappearance, intimidation and other incidents, between May 2012 and April 2012. Very few of these cases have been satisfactorily solved.
While talking about the challenges facing Nepali journalists, we believe the media fraternity also needs to be aware of its inherent flaws. Perhaps the biggest problem, at least in big media organizations, is lack of representation. A large section of the population continues to believe that major media houses still fail to represent their voice. This was a reason there was so much ire against the big media houses that were perceived to be doing the bidding of the ‘traditional forces’ in the lead up to CA’s dissolution. The cozy relationship between journalists and politicians, especially outside the capital, also undermines the credibility of media in Nepal. Media ethics is just in its infancy, with the majority of journalists just starting to come to grip with concepts like plagiarism and proper attribution.
But there can be no doubt that the state has to lead from the front when it comes to protecting freedom of expression and people’s right to be informed. For this it is important that journalists be guaranteed a safe environment where they can work without any coercion. Unless the state realizes the vital role of media in the functioning of a democracy, journalists will continue to face various kinds of unwarranted restrictions while carrying out their duty.
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