Mahara assures recognition of Bhutanese refugee journalists

Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara has given commitments to work in his capacity to provide ‘journalist identification’ to Bhutanese refugee journalists who have been publishing newspapers and running radio programme from within the Bhutanese refugee camps in eastern Nepal.

Speaking at a function in the capital Tuesday to release the first book on Bhutanese media ‘Becoming a Journalist in Exile’ written by T. P. Mishra, a Bhutanese refugee journalist, Mahara said government is ready to extend all possible support to refugee journalists despite legal hurdles.

Admitting that the coalition government has not been able to function as per the commitments made, Mahara reiterated government’s stand for rightful repatriation of Bhutanese refugees languishing in Nepal since last 19 years.

Speaking at the same programme, Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal urged the Nepalese government to facilitate solution of the Bhutanese refugee crisis by initiating three steps – repatriation, assimilation and resettlement – together.

Commenting on the book, senior journalists Dhruva Hari Adhikari, Hem Bahadur Bista, Yuvaraj Ghimire, Kishor Pradhan and human rights activist Subodh Pyakurel said the book contains insightful details about the current situation of media in Bhutan, in the Bhutanese refugee community and general thesis on theory and practice on journalism. nepalnews.com ia Mar 31 09