Editorial»
Talk is cheap
MAY 13 -
Recent attacks on journalists belie Maoist commitment to press freedom
It was a welcome change. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was seen smiling right through the interaction programme with Nepali intellectuals and professionals in the capital on Wednesday. And his tone was decidedly reconciliatory. But we also noted with sadness his omission, deliberate or otherwise, of the mention of the recent spate of attacks on free press. According to the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), in the central region alone, there were 15 instances of ‘attack, misbehaviour and intimidation’ against mediapersons in the course of the ‘indefinite nationwide agitation’ and subsequent picketing of Singha Durbar. On Sunday, Maoist cadres surrounding Singha Durbar had set upon two photojournalists — Rabindra Shrestha of Avenues Television and Prabin Maharjan of Associated News Agency — breaking apart Shrestha’s camera in the process. Many other journalists were harassed. But not a word from the Maoist chief.
The Maoists have time and again expressed their faith in free media; but their actions on the ground given a lie to their commitment as often. This is evident in their reluctance to investigate their cadres’ alleged violations of press freedom and to help the police bring the guilty to book. The Maoists have yet to come clean on the murder of Janakpur-based journalist Uma Singh in January, 2009. At various times in the same year, Maoist banda enforcers vandalised vehicles belonging to media houses and set fire to newspaper copies at various places in the country, allegedly for printing material against their interest.
What we would like to see from the Maoists is their demonstrated intent to let Nepali press function free and unhindered. Instead, what we have got to witness so far is what appears to be their deep-seated ambivalence about press freedom. What else explains Dahal’s accusation that Nepali media is controlled by ‘feudalists, capitalists and reactionary forces’? This was when he was at the head of the government.
Dahal struck pretty much the same tune at Khulla Manch on Saturday, accusing the media of unfairly reporting the six-day-long Maoist strike. While we admit that there might have been some slip-ups — or bias — in reporting of the strike, we as strongly believe that the Maoist misgivings, if any, should have been expressed in a non-violent way. For instance, they could have called a press meet to set the record strait. But venting ire at journalists through violent means is likely to have just the opposite effect. It might make people question the democratic credential of the Maoists; and journalists, the Maoists’ avowed commitment to press freedom.
According to the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), threats and incidents of ‘attacks/vandalism’ against journalists have steadily increased in the last one-year period. The situation is so bad, says Ramji Dahal, the coordinator of the press freedom monitoring unit at FNJ, the state of press in Nepal is “no better than at the height of the civil war four years ago.” Certainly, there are plenty of non-Maoist forces that threaten the existence of free press. At the same time, it is also reasonable to argue that the Maoist use of violence against media has contributed significantly to shrinking the space for free press in Nepal.
Posted on: 2010-05-14 08:13
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