The Dekendra Thapa murder episode, the halt and subsequent resumption of investigations into the case, clashes between Maoist and anti-government supporters and now the displacement of journalists after Maoist threats have all left a chilling effect on Dailekh district.
As about two dozen district journalists fled for their lives on Thursday night, the mid-western hill district has now started to feel the absence of the journalists and the media. On Friday, all the three Dailekh -based newspapers and two FM radio stations downed shutters, while collection and dissemination of news from and to the district came to a grinding halt.
Twenty-two Dailekh -based journalists affiliated to various local and national media houses fled the district after UCPN (Maoist) activists threatened them with their lives. Maoist workers vented their ire on the journalists after clashes with anti-government protesters on Wednesday.
“People are deprived of their right to information. With the closure of the local radios, I am left with no option but to read the daily news in my cell phone connected to the internet,” said Chairman of the Dailekh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dhan Bahadur Thapa.
Without the newspapers and the radio stations, people in Dailekh have become ‘restless and insecure.’
“People are terror-stricken after mediapersons fled the district. How can people feel secure when journalists themselves are not safe? The displacement of the reporters is a sheer mockery of democracy,” civil society activist Balkrishna KC told the Post over telephone.
The Maoists’ anti-press policy was conspicuous when its leadership barred journalists, apart from those associated with the party, from entering the
venue of a programme addressed by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Wednesday.
Chairman of the Federation of Nepali Journalist s’ Dailekh chapter, Pushkar Thapa, said the Maoists are accusing the scribes of “unnecessarily” raising the issue of slain journalist Thapa. He said the journalists fled after they got wind of armed Maoist workers making plans to attack them.
Meanwhile, six opposition parties and various professional organisations in Dailekh on Friday urged the local administration to stop ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ and allow the district to feel ‘loktantra’. They denounced the threat against journalists and demanded an environment conducive to their safe return.
Displaced scribes stage sit-in
SURKHET: Around two dozen journalists from Dailekh , who fled the district on Thursday, staged an hour-long sit-in at the Mid Western Regional Administration Office in Surkhet on Friday. They were demanding a secure working environment. Organising a press meet later, the reporters said they fled the district at night as they feared attacks. They said they cannot return to the district until the government creates a secure working atmosphere for them.
The chairman of the Federation of Nepali Journalist s, Dailekh chapter, Pushkar Thapa, said the mediapersons fled after Maoist workers started looking for them and threatened them and their families.
Stating that journalists feeling insecure is a serious issue, regional administrator Sharada Prasad Trital assured measures to provide security for scribes in Dailekh district.
As about two dozen district journalists fled for their lives on Thursday night, the mid-western hill district has now started to feel the absence of the journalists and the media. On Friday, all the three Dailekh -based newspapers and two FM radio stations downed shutters, while collection and dissemination of news from and to the district came to a grinding halt.
Twenty-two Dailekh -based journalists affiliated to various local and national media houses fled the district after UCPN (Maoist) activists threatened them with their lives. Maoist workers vented their ire on the journalists after clashes with anti-government protesters on Wednesday.
“People are deprived of their right to information. With the closure of the local radios, I am left with no option but to read the daily news in my cell phone connected to the internet,” said Chairman of the Dailekh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dhan Bahadur Thapa.
Without the newspapers and the radio stations, people in Dailekh have become ‘restless and insecure.’
“People are terror-stricken after mediapersons fled the district. How can people feel secure when journalists themselves are not safe? The displacement of the reporters is a sheer mockery of democracy,” civil society activist Balkrishna KC told the Post over telephone.
The Maoists’ anti-press policy was conspicuous when its leadership barred journalists, apart from those associated with the party, from entering the
venue of a programme addressed by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Wednesday.
Chairman of the Federation of Nepali Journalist s’ Dailekh chapter, Pushkar Thapa, said the Maoists are accusing the scribes of “unnecessarily” raising the issue of slain journalist Thapa. He said the journalists fled after they got wind of armed Maoist workers making plans to attack them.
Meanwhile, six opposition parties and various professional organisations in Dailekh on Friday urged the local administration to stop ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ and allow the district to feel ‘loktantra’. They denounced the threat against journalists and demanded an environment conducive to their safe return.
Displaced scribes stage sit-in
SURKHET: Around two dozen journalists from Dailekh , who fled the district on Thursday, staged an hour-long sit-in at the Mid Western Regional Administration Office in Surkhet on Friday. They were demanding a secure working environment. Organising a press meet later, the reporters said they fled the district at night as they feared attacks. They said they cannot return to the district until the government creates a secure working atmosphere for them.
The chairman of the Federation of Nepali Journalist s, Dailekh chapter, Pushkar Thapa, said the mediapersons fled after Maoist workers started looking for them and threatened them and their families.
Stating that journalists feeling insecure is a serious issue, regional administrator Sharada Prasad Trital assured measures to provide security for scribes in Dailekh district.
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