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Samacharpatra still in suspension; publishers appeal to parties and civil society

As Kamana Publications has halted the publication of Nepal Samacharpatra daily and Mahanagar eveninger since last three days owing to disruption by pro-Maoist workers, publishers of major publication houses have come together to appeal to eight parties, human rights community, civil society and other stakeholders to help create an environment to allow the resumption of the publications.

At a meeting held at the office of Kamana Publications, publishers of Kantipur Publications, APCA House, Utsarga Publications and Himalaya Times expressed concern over the situation in Kamana Publications. "It is gross injustice and an attack on the freedom of the press to so vitiate the atmosphere as to set the stage for the closure of newspapers just for the sake of the fulfillment of undue demands of trade unions," a joint press release issued by the publications said.

The publishers have concluded that the creation of a situation whereby the Publication had to halt the publishing of newspapers was a serious assault to the freedom of press. They said that while they respect the right to form trade union, they find it wrongful to move ahead by flouting legal processes.

The dispute in the Kamana Publications arose after workers affiliated with All Nepal Media, Press and Publications Workers Association – including the distributors and delivery boys – demanded that the Publication register them as trade union even as the latter has said that they are not actually their workers. Pushkar Lal Shrestha, executive chairman of the Publications, has said that he cannot register the union from an independent company. According to him, the distributors and delivery boys of the Publication work on contract through another company called Consumer Solution. nepalnews.com sd Jun 22 07