NEPAL: The country sees a "rollback of free media"

After the royal takeover of the government by then king Gyanendra, Nepal’s press freedom plummeted: It was in the bottom 10 of Reporters Sans Frontieres list for press freedom. Almost four years later, though new Nepal under the Maoist governance seems to be climbing the ladder of press freedom—from 160th in 2005 to 138th in 2008—the state of the media and journalistic rights are still poor, indeed.

In an article in one of Nepal’s new publications, Republica, senior journalist and editor of Himal Southasian, Kanak Mani Dixit, writes that the country is witnessing the “rollback of free media,” and if there isn’t a new dawn for the freedom of expression, Nepal could go back in time instead of marching toward a better future.

Dixit, who himself has been a victim of brutality against journalists, writes in his article that it was “much easier to fight the autocrat king” than the Maoist cadre who feel “they have been justified in their violence and their ´people´s war´, and the leadership does not have the moral strength to disabuse them of the notion.”

It is not that there are anti-media ordinances and military jackboots in editorial offices, which was King Gyanendra’s way in February 2005. The threat now is more insidious, with the reporters and editors working amidst an infrastructure of impunity and absence of accountability that is more entrenched than ever before. Those whose job it is to write and report are doubly in danger where there is no rule of law, as the Maoists engage reluctantly with open society. Journalism is like a canary sent down the mine shaft, and our editors and reporters are beginning to feel the asphyxiation. Rather than succumb, we are asked to sound the alarm and stand up to anarchy and creeping authoritarianism.

Addressing a rally of his party's victory in the national election held in April 2008, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had a harsh message for the media.

"You journalists did well to continuously criticize the Maoists before the constituent assembly polls, otherwise the election would not have taken place at all, Dahal said. “Now we will no longer tolerate criticism as we have already been elected by the people.”

While the press still criticizes the government and tries to bring forth the irregularities and corruption, the Maoists seem unhappy and their cadre ready to use their fists and force, a brand image for the Maoists who say they have left behind violence that took the lives of more than 13,000 Nepalis in a decade long home-grown war.

When asked about the thrashing of media workers in the newsroom of one media house, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal makes light of it, pointing out that no one in fact died. When Uma Singh was murdered, he cites the example of South Africa where, he says, so many more had died in the post-conflict transitional phase than in Nepal.

No thorough investigations on the recent attack on Himalmedia have been conducted. Those responsible for the criminal act were sent to police custody but soon released with vermilion on their faces and garlands on their necks as if they had achieved their goals and emerged victorious. 

One would expect a democratically elected government to rush to investigate attacks on journalists, the media being the bellwether of social distress. But the government happens to be led by a party whose leaders in internal conclaves expound on the need to destroy before building anew. Before the representatives of the Western world, Prime Minister Dahal is eloquent in his defense of press freedom and pluralism, and certainly the leadership will sign on any dotted line to underline its commitment. But listen to what Mr. Dahal tells his cadre: that journalism has no purpose but to serve ‘the people’, as defined by the party of course.

At this point in time, the state of journalism in Nepal looks bleak. The government cares less about press freedom and freedom of expression. For them, they would want the press to be more or less their forum for publicity than to disseminate the truth. But there remains a silver lining.

There is cause for alarm, but there is also some reason for hope. Past experience tells us that if the societal vanguard all over stands firm against the anti-democratic onslaught, the Maoists are ‘political’ enough to pull back. A countrywide stand on press freedom is bound to force the Maoists to convert, if only to ensure their own political longevity. It is unfortunate that the journalist has to serve as guinea pig for the purpose.

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