(FNJ/IFEX) – On 24 February 2007, cadres of Tharu Kalyankari Sabha (TKS), a political group demanding a separate Tharu state, physically prevented Dharma Pal Raut, marketing manager of the newspaper “Rajbiraj Today”, and Shiva Narayan Shah, its publisher and one of its reporters, from distributing newspapers in Kalyanpur, Saptari, an eastern district in Nepal. Raut […]
(FNJ/IFEX) – On 24 February 2007, cadres of Tharu Kalyankari Sabha (TKS), a political group demanding a separate Tharu state, physically prevented Dharma Pal Raut, marketing manager of the newspaper “Rajbiraj Today”, and Shiva Narayan Shah, its publisher and one of its reporters, from distributing newspapers in Kalyanpur, Saptari, an eastern district in Nepal.
Raut and Shah were on their motorcycle en route to Lahan and Udaypur to distribute newspapers. The TKS cadres stopped them, saying they had called a “bandh” (road blockade) in the area. When the two showed their identity cards, the cadres ordered them to go back, using force on them. The cadres seized the keys to their motorcycle, returning them only after the two had walked a kilometre away. The cadres also seized their camera and deleted the photographs it contained.
On 23 January, in a separate incident in the Sanischare village of Morang, an eastern district, Krishna Bhattarai, a correspondent of Nepal Television and Nepal Samacharpatra, was brutally attacked.
Bhattarai was reporting on a clash between Bhutanese refugees and locals in the area. A group of refugees attacked him while he was filming the damage in the refugee camp. They attacked him with sticks and stones. They also tried to hit him with a tarwar (a sharp weapon). Four of his teeth were broken and 10 injured. He also sustained injuries to his head and back.
During the attack, his camera was also damaged. Bhattarai said police did not try to help him even though they were nearby. He had to jump into a ditch to save himself.
FNJ has condemned the incidents and has urged everyone not to hinder the transportation of newspapers or the mobility of journalists gathering news. FNJ also urges the all parties not to make journalists a victim of their dissatisfaction or anger.