Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), an international media watchdog, has said that Nepali journalists regained freedom after the overthrow of the direct rule of King Gyanendra, but not their safety.
In its annual press freedom report published on Wednesday, RSF said journalists, particularly correspondents for national media, who were accused of being in cahoots with the ‘powerful in the capital’, lived through hell during the violence that erupted in Terai last year.
Around 100 of them were physically assaulted, threatened or forced to flee after being threatened by Madhesi militants who grew ever more radical. A dozen reporters left Parsa, Bara and Rautahat districts, in fear of their lives.
Elsewhere, the Maoists blew hot and cold towards the press. After the Maoists pulled out of government in September, groups of trade unionists and young Maoists launched a campaign of threats against the media, RSF said, alleging that some Maoist leaders imposed a reign of fear, preventing journalists from working freely.
No fewer than 70 journalists were assaulted or threatened by different armed groups in the Terai between January and June last year, seeking either to silence them or force them to become spokespersons.
Rioters beat up three journalists and a photographer taking pictures in the streets of Morang district on January 29. The previous day, demonstrators destroyed the station of FM Birgunj and offices of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) in Birgunj.
RSF said the authorities proved incapable of protecting journalists. RSF identified Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, various factions of Janatantrik Terai mukti Morcha, Madhesi Tigers among others who posed threat to the lives of journalists working in the region.
RSF described the Maoist cadres as being ‘ruthless’ towards the press. During 2008, at least five journalists were kidnapped and two were killed– Birendra Shah and Prakash Thakuri. The trade unionists and young Maoists used different methods of harassing independent media, whom they accused of damaging them or defending the monarchy.
Maoist leaders acknowledged at a press conference on 5 November that their party cadres had abducted and murdered journalist Birendra Shah, 34, working with Nepal FM, Dristri Weekly and Avenues TV in Bara.
The National Republican Army said on July 8 that it had killed Prakash Thakuri, justifying his killing on the basis of his articles favourable to the king. However, his dead body is yet not found.
A third journalist killed during the year, Shankar Panthi, was however working for the pro-Maoist newspaper Naya Satta daily in Sunawal. Police who found his body on the roadside on September 14 initially believed that he was the victim of an accident, his bicycle having apparently been struck by a car. But following protests from his family and the Association of Revolutionary Journalists, police accepted that his death had not been an accident.
Maoists kidnapped at least three other journalists including in October a reporter on Mahakali FM, Pappu Gurung, who was held captive for three days in Dodhara, western Nepal along with his wife. Gurung said his captors threatened him with reprisals if he did not give up his profession.
RSF said that Maoists’ return to the government has given rise to fresh hope for a more peaceful year in 2008. nepalnews.com ia Feb 13 08