Maoists on Media: A Methodical Madness The uncanny continuity of attack on independent media by Maoist affiliates exposes a telling method in their madness
By Sanjaya Dhakal
Worst fears of Nepali media appear to be coming true. From the past attacks under the cover of trade unionism, the Maoist-affiliates have now shut down the publication of two major dailies on the basis of news they published.
In an incident that marks the realisation of the worst fears that the Maoists are making inroads into the editorial floors of independent media, The Himalayan Times (THT) and Annapurna Post (AP) dailies remain shut down for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday in the face of disruption of printing and distribution by the Maoist-aligned trade unions.
"On (Friday, August 10) evening, Arjun Kumar Gautam, chairman of APCA Nepal unit of the union, entered the editorial floor of Annapurna Post and threatened not to distribute the newspapers if the news against them was published the next day. On the following day, they seized all copies of newspapers from the Sama Printers, Bhainsepati, and dumped them inside the printing press. Despite police presence, they did not let anybody bring the copies out of Sama Printers. Both the dailies had carried the news about the Patan Appellate Court's summons to the Maoist affiliated trade union leaders on Saturday's editions," a statement by the newspapers said.
The statement portends dreadful days ahead for press freedom in the country since the Maoist mischief is now growing increasingly brazen as they have adopted the policy of either forcing independent media to toe their line or unleashing the forces of intimidation to browbeat them into following their diktat.
Although this is not the first time the Maoist affiliates have attacked press freedom, the causes and the brazenness with which they are operating have become sinister. The THT/AP dailies had been disrupted for a week beginning July 20 also when the delivery boys of the Maoist-affiliated trade union obstructed their distribution demanding pay hike, permanent status and other benefits even as the publication maintained that they are not their employees . That incident itself was a repetition of similar disruption of Nepal Samacharpatra and Mahanagar dailies in the first week of July. There, too, the Maoist-affiliated workers demanded that they be given permanent status in the newspapers.
Coinciding with the disruption in THT/AP dailies, the pro-Maoist workers have also forced the Radio HBC FM to go off the air since past ten days. Its manager Birendra Dahal is launching 'fast-unto-death' in the media village demanding clear commitment from the Maoists and its sister organisations on press freedom.
"There are still some people who want to create a monolithic society by suppressing all kinds of press freedom. My struggle is against such thinking," said Dahal.
The series of attacks on press freedom have perturbed the journalist community. "It is now time for the Maoists to declare publicly their commitment to press freedom. They can't just have lip service and allow their affiliate militant organisations to intimidate the editors," said Kunda Dixit, a senior journalist and the editor of Nepali Times weekly.
Added Shiva Gaunle, the vice president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), "The Maoist party should not delay in clarifying their stance as we find that they have not given clear directive within their organisation to respect and adhere to press freedom."
Clearly, the Nepali media is once again facing a difficult time. Having borne the brunts of past autocratic regimes, the media is now staring at a completely different kind of challenge – the one with which it is finding hard to cope with.
"I am surprised why the civil society, human rights community and the UN are quiet about this incident, which has a direct bearing on the creation of conducive environment for November elections," said Dixit.
The Maoists, on their part, have been claiming that they are working in the interest of common workers in media houses who they claim are being exploited.
While they may have raised some genuine issues concerning media fraternity, the tactic they have adopted has ruffled many feathers.
"Some of the labour demands are genuine but their systematic use in three-four media houses smacks of deliberate attempt to undermine the press. There are other ways to deal with labour issues," said Dixit.
Interestingly, even as they have raised the issue of livelihood and workers' rights in private media, there is a deafening silence on the unceremonious sacking of 49 journalists of the state-owned Gorkhapatra corporation. One cannot miss the point here that a senior Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara, ironically, is the current Minister for Information and Communication.
Mahara has projected total helplessness to deal with militant unionism that is threatening to tear apart the freedom of press at this crucial juncture in the country. Whether there is a method in their madness or madness in their method, the ultimate victim is going to be the press freedom, which is a sacrosanct element of any democracy. As Nepal inches towards the crucial November elections, the unabashed disregard towards press freedom shown by an important party of the current peace process has created an unsavoury situation. nepalnews.com Aug 15 07
(Comments on this write-up can be sent to editors@mos.com.np. The writer can be reached at sandhakal@gmail.com)
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