The latest cover story of Himal—a leading fortnightly newsmagazine—has courted controversy thanks to its cover page illustration that shows His Majesty King Gyanendra standing in a row and joining hands with leaders of major political parties in the country.

Perhaps for the first time in the history of Nepali media, the fortnightly magazine, published by Himal Media Pvt. Ltd.– a leading publishing house—had the guts to show the monarch joining hands with his subjects. Interestingly, centrist Girija Prasad Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba are on the right side of the monarch while leftist Madhav Kumar Nepal and rightist Pashupati Shumsher Rana are on the left side of the of the King. (see: pic).

Obviously, the picture was not a real one and the magazine duly said it was a photo montage. Interestingly, the Himal cover (Jan 14-28) entitled, “The Only Way to End the Violence,” invited harsh criticism mainly from the `tabloid’ press that prefers to introduce itself as ‘royalist.’

On January 17, under the heading “Gai Jatra,” Jana Bhavana weekly wrote: Himal cover photo that involved the dignity of the monarchy is a naked experiment of imaginary photographic and artistic license.

The weekly further wrote, “At one time, (then) editor of Saptahik Bimarsha, Harihar Birahi, was punished for publishing a cartoon that depicted the chief justice as a monkey. Should those at Himal similarly be punished for bringing out a photo containing the constitutional monarch? Intellectual circles feel that such a photograph is an abuse of press freedom.”

A day later, Nispakshya weekly, in its front-page commentary, opined that the group photograph published in Himal Khabarpatripa had not only tricked readers but also offended the journalistic code of conduct.

“Heads of the king, Girija, Deuba, Madhab and Pashupati had been pasted on somebody else’ bodies. It is really sad as well as funny to see how this publication has degraded the king and the institution of monarchy by making the king join hands with those disreputable leaders so do not accept the integrity of the king and the royal institution,” wrote Nispakshya weekly dated Jan. 18 in its front page story.

“The purpose of the news may be good, but such fake photographs make a bad impact. Intellectuals say that Himal needs to apologise for dishonouring the monarchy. The palace should also make its objections public against such irresponsible journalism and issue a warning, say intellectuals,” the weekly said.

In what seemed like orchestrated stories, both the weeklies did not identify who those intellectuals were. While claiming that the Himal cover had violated the code of conduct, both of them published the same photo in their newspapers.

So, has the photo illustration really violated the journalistic code of conduct?

Talking to Nepalnews briefly, chairman of Press Council of Nepal—a press watchdog that has semi-judicial authorities– Mathbar Singh Basnet, said whether certain news item or photo has violated the code of conduct or not depends on its presentation. “If the photo is objectionable, it is against the code of conduct. If not, it is not against the code,” he added.

Basnet, however, said that the Council had got a separate committee to look into the matters and that the committee would look into issues only when it received the complaint.

So far nobody has registered a complaint at the Press Council.

The Himal team, on its part, said it had received very encouraging comments from the audience. “It is the duty of the media to recommend ways to make the society free of on-going violence. As a newsmagazine we have done just that,” Rajendra Dahal, editor of Himal Khabarpatrika, told Nepalnews.

“The criticism against us has been very narrow and seems to have been directed out of personal interest,” said Dahal. “In fact, our cover story is very much within the parameters of the code of conduct and it is also the optimum utilization of the journalistic duty,” he added.

A senior office-bearer at the Federation of Nepalese Jounalists (FNJ), who did not want to be named, said Himal had acted very much within the parameters of the journalistic ethics and that there should not be any objection as its intent was good.

Critics say there are certain elements that don’t want to see the king joining hands with the political leaders as it would hurt their vested interests. Dismissing such elements, in the Himal cover story, Hari Sharma, a political scientist, wrote: The summary of all types of recommendations made so far to immediately end the nine-year-old violence and political uncertainty is the unity among political forces that have been bound by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990, namely– the king, government and the political parties.

“When these forces stand together, any of the alternatives—(elections to the) constituent assembly, fresh elections or restoration of the dissolved parliament—can more or less become viable. Unless that happens, to anticipate that there would be dialogue (between the government and rebels) or that a way out could come up would be nothing but futile,” he added. nepalnews.com Bhagirath Yogi Jan 27 05