Nepaløs insurgency drives journalists from their homes

BY Sanjaya dhakal| IN Media Freedom | 21/03/2004

                                 from OneWorld.net

Sanjaya Dhakal in Kathmandu                                                                                          

In a disturbing fallout of Nepal`s insurgency, over the last six months, at least 25 journalists were displaced from their places of work and residence by both Maoist rebels and security forces.  

The figures were released by the Nepal Report Desk of the Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) and the Press Freedom Monitoring Desk of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ). According to them, 20 media persons fled their homes due to threats from the Maoists, while intimidation by security forces spurred five others to migrate to safer places.  

"Many more journalists were similarly displaced but we don`t have records for them," says Pradeep Ghimire, secretary at the CEHURDES, an NGO championing press freedom. While assaults, death threats and even the murders of journalists are not unheard of in violence-hit Nepal, the frequent displacements are a new, worrying development. Nepal`s eight-year insurgency has already claimed about 8,000 lives.

The majority of the displaced journalists have shifted to the capital Kathmandu, while some have left the interiors of the districts in which they were residing, for the headquarters of these areas.  

Even during the emergency rule imposed between November 2001 and October 2002 to combat the insurgency, such a large number of journalists were not displaced, though rebels and security forces then faced many charges of rights violations. In December last year, Dambar Bahadur Thapa, a correspondent of the regional vernacular daily Kankrevihar", and his family were displaced from Dailekh district in far western Nepal. The Maoists locked his house and demanded a huge donation, warning of dire consequences if he retained his job. They later looted the money Thapa`s father got from the sale of his land.  

Just after the August 2003 break down of the ceasefire with the Maoists, Kamal Mishra, editor of the regional "Janaandolan" weekly, permanently shifted to Kathmandu from the eastern district of Jhapa after security forces reportedly tortured and harassed him.

Protests Mishra, who the government accused of being a Maoist sympathizer, "I was wrongly targeted. Though my writings might have revealed my leftist thinking, I was never associated with the Maoists in any manner." He is currently working at the FNJ office in Kathmandu.  

Chitra Bahadur Singh, a reporter of the Rajdhani daily, and his wife were evicted by Maoists from their village in Dailekh district in October. He and his family are currently staying in the district headquarters. The rebels reportedly harassed him after he married the daughter of a local leader of a pro-monarchy political party. Bhawani Baral, editor of the local Bijaypur weekly, fled to Kathmandu from the eastern city of Dharan immediately after the ceasefire collapsed, after friends informed him that security officials were looking for him.  

There is no way we can convince local security officials we are only journalists. herefore, I thought it was better to come to Kathmandu where journalists are safer," he discloses. Baral thinks his acquaintance of regional level Maoist leaders might be the reason for the harassment. All these journalists have decided they will return to their homes only after the conflict is resolved.  

"The threat is huge and growing. In districts away from Kathmandu, there are lesser chances of independent reporting. The Maoists have been threatening some because they fail to pay extortion fees and others because of their writing," says Taranath Dahal, president of FNJ. He adds that journalists have begun imposing self censorship to survive.  

Journalists have paid a heavy price for the insurgency. The CEHURDES` Nepal Report 2003 says nine journalists were killed till mid-April 2003 - seven by security forces and two by the Maoists. In the months after that, at least two journalists were killed - one each by both sides. Hundreds have been detained, attacked or threatened. Following the breakdown of the ceasefire, abductions of media persons and other citizens have shot up.  

Last week, three independent officials of the United Nations (news - web sites) Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) expressed their concern over the situation in Nepal. They cited "reports of increasing indiscriminate attacks against civilians by both sides." The UNCHR statement says, "UN experts note that since November 12, some 47 urgent appeals have been sent to the government regarding more than 100 missing persons, most of them concerning detentions at unknown locations." The report slammed the increasing incidents of harassment" such as house searches, arrests and detention of journalists, teachers, lawyers and trade unionists. On Monday, seven journalists of Radio Saidan were arbitrarily detained by security forces from the western city of Nepalgunj, 500 miles west of Kathmandu. They were released after interrogation.  

To make matters worse, media watchers feel the government is preparing to tighten the clamps on press freedom. Just last week, Home Minister Kamal Thapa, who also holds the portfolio of information and communications, accused media groups, particularly district level radio stations, of "exaggerating and highlighting" attacks by Maoists. He charged the media with boosting the morale of the insurgents and terrorizing the locals. Thapa stopped short of saying the government would clamp down on the press, claiming that, "We are respectful of press freedom and freedom of expression and have no intention of muzzling the press."  

Even the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has denied charges of targeting mediamen. "It is not our policy to target journalists. Only those found hobnobbing with the rebels are being investigated," says RNA spokesperson Colonel Deepak Gurung.  

Amid worsening ground realities, victimized journalists are demanding special programs for their rehabilitation. "We just want to be back at our areas of operation doing what we have been doing in the past," remarks Mishra.

Courtesy: One World South Asia