IPS-English NEPAL: 'Bad News' Hounds the Media Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:58:57 -0700 Guna Raj Luitel KATHMANDU, Apr 30 (IPS) - Bad news continue to plague Nepali journalists against whom attacks go on unabated. ''Journalists are definitely the eyes of the movement and the revolution,'' said journalist-turned-insurgent Jwala Singh in an interview a couple of months ago in an undisclosed town on the Indo-Nepal border. Singh, whose real name is Nagendra Paswan, is the chair of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) insurgent group which split from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) last year. A former journalist, he once headed the local branch of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists in the Siraha district of Nepal. The interview tackled several issues including the frequent attacks against members of the press by different rebel groups. Singh expressed his gratitude for being given a chance to say his views about various issues plaguing the country. Despite this show of goodwill, attacks on Nepal-based journalists continue. The assaults are said to be perpetrated by rebel groups such as the JTMM (also known as the People's Terai Liberation Front), the Madheshi People's Rights Forum (MPRF), the Terai Cobra and Terai Tiger insurgent groups, among others. The former rebel party CPN-Maoist's cadres are also accused of attacking and abusing members of the media. The FNJ has tracked numerous cases of attacks in 2007 against the media that show a worsening trend in this Himalayan country. On Apr. 10, for instance, reporters of Image Channel working in the Terai region were threatened with physical harm by JTMM president Jaya Krishna Goit (JTMM has since split into two factions). JTMM, which seeks to create an independent state in Terai in southern Nepal, released a statement stating that the reporters falsely linked the group with a couple of abductions. Meanwhile on Apr. 2 MPRF members burned copies of 'Kantipur Daily' in Nepal's eastern district of Saptari. The rebel group accused the paper of not publishing MPRF's statements and other news. On Mar. 26 Maoists had threatened to kill 'Abhiyan Daily' editor Khem Bhandari and imposed a ban on the paper. The editor received the telephone threats after the paper published a news item that accused Maoists of extortion. On Mar. 22 a group of Maoist-affiliated transportation staffers seized Kantipur Daily copies in the capital Kathmandu and in other parts of the country to express their disagreement over the news published in the paper. On Mar. 9 Santosh Yadav of the 'Rajdhani Daily' and Anil Adhikari of 'The Blast' sustained injuries when MPRF protestors hurled stones at them in the eastern district of Sunsari. In a separate incident in the same district, 'Janabidroha' manager Chiranjivi Rijal and sub-editor Bimal Lamichane were threatened and their motorbikes set ablaze. Most recently on Apr. 19, 'Himal' magazine correspondent Rameshwor Bohara and Damodar Bhandari of 'Annapoorna' were detained by Maoists in the mid-western district of Rolpa. The two were released after a couple of hours. According to FNJ, more than a hundred incidents have already occurred since the unrest began early this year in the Terai, triggered by calls for an autonomous Madhes region. At the forefront of this movement are the Madhesis who are of Indian descent and live in the southern part of Nepal. Among these are 19 physical attacks against journalists, five attacks on media houses and FNJ offices, 23 cases of grave threats, 19 displacements of local journalists, 53 closures of publications, 12 vandalism acts on media vehicles, two newspaper distribution obstructions, and one threat to close down a media office, the federation said. ”Even the negative publicity gives them an opportunity to publicise their organisations at the national level,” says FNJ vice-president Shiva Gaunle. ”Some groups want to be popular through (their) terrorising (of) the media.” Supporters of the Terai movement, however, have a different view. They claim that the media have been unable to give a real picture of the Terai problem. Most of the media, they say, are run and represented by the northern people, who do not care about Terai and its people's aspirations. ”The protesters were furious about the difference between the incidents they have witnessed and the portrayal in the news,” claims Dr Niraj Singh, secretary general of the Nepal Medical Association's Narayani Branch in the Terai town of Birgunj. ”It is a normal way to express their anguish.” ”If the media have been a mirror to reflect society, this would not happen,” adds Singh. Gaunle disagrees with Niraj Singh's view, saying that the groups who claim they are fighting for their rights are the ones who attack the media. ”In Nepal, every group has tried to use and abuse the media. The King (Gyanendra) tried to use the media, but he failed. The political parties tried to use the media, but they also failed. Now, you have these new groups,” says Gaunle. The history of press freedom in Nepal has been short and bittersweet. The independent press was established only after 1990 when Nepal won the struggle for democracy against the monarchy's direct rule. Prior to that, there was only a government-owned press with a few minor tabloids. The new Constitution that was drafted in 1990 gave the public an opportunity to invest in the media. Big media companies were established to quench the people's thirst for information. Along the way the media faced numerous challenges. They faced censorship when they attacked both the government and Maoists. During the years of armed conflict between the Maoists and government forces, the media lost 15 journalists. Whether the Fourth Estate will continue to lose more of its members depends on how things unfold in this violence-soaked nation. ***** + Nepal: Revolution to Reform - More IPS coverage (http://ipsnews.net/new_focus/himalayas/index.asp) (END/IPS/AP/IP/NP/PF/IC/HD/DV/GRL/JS/RDR/07) = 04300721 ORP002 NNNN