(FNJ/IFEX) – Station manager Tula Adhikary and news staff Roshan Puri and Rakesh Mishra of Bageshwori FM, a radio station broadcast from Nepalgunj, were threatened by Ram Kumar Dixit, president of the Nepal Sadbhawana Party – Banke district, for disseminating news about a protest organised by the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF). Claiming that their reporting […]
(FNJ/IFEX) – Station manager Tula Adhikary and news staff Roshan Puri and Rakesh Mishra of Bageshwori FM, a radio station broadcast from Nepalgunj, were threatened by Ram Kumar Dixit, president of the Nepal Sadbhawana Party – Banke district, for disseminating news about a protest organised by the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF). Claiming that their reporting will exacerbate communal divisions, Dixit threatened the journalists to stop reporting or their life would be in danger, in a statement made on 9 March in Banke district, in mid-western Nepal.
According to FNJ – Banke chapter, the threats have created a situation in the region where not only the Bageshwori FM journalists, but all journalists, have been unable to collect and disseminate news.
FNJ is seriously concerned about the incident and condemns these threats against journalists. The organisation urges the Nepal Sadbhawana Party not to repeat such acts and requests all parties to uphold a free and fair environment for media professionals to collect and disseminate news.