Help save Nepali media men

Our attention has been drawn towards the abrupt silence acquired by the European Union and its member countries present in Nepal over the dastardly manner one of our professional colleague was “brutally” murdered by the Maoists activists last month in the Bara District. We had presumed that the otherwise intelligent member countries belonging to the EU conglomerate under the Presidentship of the United Kingdom would come to the rescue of the Nepali media men who have been continuously subjected to all sorts of mental and physical torture in some districts ( let’s say in all the districts save Kathmandu) and send warnings to all those hoodlums, vandals, political activists and cadres to refrain from such ghastly activities which even does not care to murder the innocent media men while on duty.

Though we have been told that there was a meek voice statement from the EU, however, we conclude that all that we need is a strong worded statement that is listened by those who have been creating havoc in the minds of the entire Nepali media men across the length and the breadth of the country. A mere appeal to the wrongdoers would do little in order to save the precious lives of the innocent journalists. Some thing that is strong in both nature and content, is what we the media men need from the EU and other democratic countries as well.

We had also expected that the EU members would instantly make a threat loaded statement sending signals to those political parties who have just joined the mainstream politics of this country wherein they would impress upon the parties and its cadres not to harass the media men in any way or the other and abide by the rules and the universal values of a democratic set up that needless to say guarantees the free movement of the media men and make sure that the media men must not in any way be subjected to killing for their write up.

Birendra Saha was definitely a kind soul who simply lost his life for writing some thing which apparently were not in the good taste of those who killed him. This amply makes it clear is that the media men are under constant threat or pressure from any political parties or from its affiliate one if any media man or woman wrote some thing that exposed the party’s activities more so the districts.

The fact is that no media man in the country is safe if one were to analyze the manner late Saha was killed. Saha’s pen was certainly a sharp and pinching one and he did expose at times through his stories the corrupt practices being brought into action by some of the local level leaders of some parties.

It was this sharpness of the pen that became the root cause for the murder of Saha.

Frankly speaking, with the sudden and the brutal killing of Birendra Saha that was carried out in a very very mysterious manner and the apathy exhibited by the security agencies under Home Minister Sitaula in carrying the needed investigation makes it abundantly clear that not a single journalist in this country is safe.

Just imagine if the media men are not safe and if they feel threatened in penning stories that expose the corruption and the misdeed of some local level leaders, how can the information could flow and come to the surface for the consumption of the population?

It is high time that the members of the European Union take the lead and talk to the government and the major political parties and thus make the media men reassured that in the future no journalist would be physically penalized or even killed for writing stories that they adjudge to be in the larger interest of the people, nation and for the system as well.

This applies to other democratic countries as well. The US too must come forward and convince the government to remain ever sensitive towards the security of the media men whether they are on duty or on a hunt to get a piece of news that exposes some bad habits of some leaders be it in the local or at the central level.

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