Not my job: Pokharel
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KATHMANDU, MAR 10 - Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel on Tuesday said Home Ministry is responsible for ensuring security to the media and media professionals.
The statement from Minister Pokharel, who heads the ministry under which the entire media fraternity falls, comes as a surprise also because of the minister’s argument that Jamim Shah in Kathmandu and Arun Singhaniya in Janakpur were not murdered ‘because of their affiliation to the media’.
“Investigations have indicated that they were not murdered because of their links with the media,” said Pokharel at a parliamentary Development Committee meeting.
Shah was assassinated in Kathmandu on Feb. 7 while 21 days later Singhaniya was shot dead in Janakpur.
“Attacks on media persons will automatically decline if they focus on their duties only,” said the minister and urged the media persons not to report news that encourage criminal groups and weaken public’s trust on the state.
He argued that the Ministry of Information and Communications was responsible for professional development of journalists. “It surely is the duty of the Home Ministry to ensure safety to the media and media persons.”
The parliamentary committee has directed the government to ensure security to media persons and asked the Information and Communications Ministry to conduct a proper probe into the murder of Shah and Singhaniya. The committee also asked the government to provide compensation to the families of the victims.
Posted on: 2010-03-10 08:52
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