The mission carried out the whole process in coordination with the district offices of the FNJ. The study showed the media houses and journalists outside Kathmandu facing an extremely adverse situation. Newspapers have been closed at the orders of army or the government. F.M. stations have been barred from broadcasting news. Reporting has been restricted and journalists have been forced to work in an environment where fear, threats and tension reign supreme. It is obvious that the condition of the media and the media persons under such horrendous circumstances cannot be otherwise, but utterly deplorable. The principal objective of the mission was to collect actual information on the state of the media after February 1 royal proclamation, boosting the morale of the journalists' fraternity and finally to agree on a future course of action.

The monitoring team comprised: Taranath Dahal, former president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), coordinator and members Gopal Thapalia, president of SAFMA Nepal chapter; Puroshottam Dahal, president of Human Rights and Peace Society; Balaram Baniya, central member of FNJ; Surya Thapa, vice president of FNJ and Binod Dhungel, (participated in Bardiya and Surkhet), central member of FNJ.

District Wise Situation

Banke

Immediately after the royal proclamation, armed forces were deployed at the offices of all media houses that left the entire media in the district terrorized. This went a long way in creating a strong psychological pressure on the minds of all media persons. For instance, BBC reporter, Netra K.C., was called to the Division Headquarters for his reporting on the February 1 takeover. The very next day, journalists staged protest at Rupadiah and Bahraich in India. Almost all reporters at the local level were detained from February 2-7. On February 7, the district administration office called all editors and issued a 12-point directive that cut a boundary line for the media. Nepali Express and Nishpakshya Dhwoni Dainik resumed their publication from February 8; whereas Kaalpristha, Madhyapashchim and Nayaa Sangrachana dailies resumed publication from February 11.

Hemant Karmacharya, editor of Kaalpristha, was interrogated for an hour as to why Kaalpristha remained closed for a couple of days. During the course of assessment, it was learnt that Brigadier Dipbikram Rana and spokesperson Yagyabahadur pressurised him to disclose the source of the news on the Ganeshpur episode despite of censoring material for some time. The fact-finding mission team observed that the district administration did not have any role in these unfriendly activities. All it did was to issue a12-point directive. In effect, the army was at the center stage of all the activities.

After that direct interference has not been witnessed, but journalists work under the sensation of a looming saber over their heads. The army also restricts news materials that talks about Maoist extremism, corruption in the government offices or the activities of the political parties. Newspapers are not in a position to work in a fearless environment. Nevertheless, the fact-finding team started working in the field quite late and found the newspapers working in a relatively unfettered manner.

Soldiers were posted at Radio Bheri Awaj and Bageswori FM Radio before the royal proclamation was announced. Bageswori broadcasts news bulletins in every single hour, but armed soldiers had already cordoned off the office by 6 O'clock in the evening on February 1 and halted the transmission of all news bulletins, talk programmes and current affairs programmes. However, both the FM stations were not given the 12-point directive of the district administration office. The army team, posted at 10 a.m. at Bheri Awaj FM station, issued a strict warning while leaving at 6:30 p.m., 'Don't broadcast any news till further notification is made and don't play any local language songs.'

The Maoist rebels destroyed the regional transmission center of Nepal Television (NTV) after February 1. It was established at Kohalpur in 2000. Many employees and journalists have been called back to Kathmandu under the pretext of attack; whereas programme production and relay transmission have also been stopped. This move disrupted the programmes broadcast in local languages Tharu and Awadhi rendering more than 5 dozen programme producers and journalists jobless. The police also interfered into the blood donation programme broadcast on the golden jubilee celebration of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ).

Dang

The district administration office ordered the closure of Naya Yugbodh Dainik and Gaughar Weekly. Following this, Gaughar Weekly could not be published for two consecutive weeks. Even after the resumption of the publication, it was ordered to get its materials censored before sending them to the press. Though there is no censorship at present, but the terror in the journalists' psyche continues unabated.

Naya Yugbodh went unpublished for 28 days. Its publication became possible only after it won a case filed at the Tulsipur Appellate Court on February 11, 2004. It is worth mentioning that The Kathmandu Post's editor had to appear before the Chief District Officer (CDO) for publishing a photograph that showed the jobless reporters of Naya Yugbodh playing a guitar in front of their office.

In another incident, Dang-based reporter of Channel Nepal, Sharad Adhikari, was put behind the bars for 26 days. For 20 days there was no hearing on the writ petition lodged at the Tulsipur Appellate Court for his release. It revealed that the judiciary too is not free of bureaucratic tactics. The administration sought to create havoc amidst the media persons by continuing the detention of Adhikari even after the release of the political activists, who staged protests against the royal takeover. Now he is free following the verdict of the Appellate Court.

The CDO tried to threaten and pressurise Naya Yugbodh's reporter, Durgalal KC, for writing on the corruption in issuing vehicle license. The army barred Nepal Television's Dang-based reporter, Parshuram Sharma, from taking pictures of Tulsipur Airport during a strike. He was later taken to the barrack and grilled for one-and-a- half hour. During the questioning, the army said, 'We don't know any journalists, all we care is if some one is in our side or not.' He was released after two hours, but he could not get one of his cassette back even after he showed his identity card of Nepal Television, a government owned channel. Here the efforts of the mission proved fruitful when he told this only to the fact-finding team.

Not only the state, but the Maoist rebels are equally responsible for harassing the media persons across the country. The rebels were scathing the journalists who had been to Hapure on April 20 on a tip-off that the Maoists were cleaning up forests in the area. The telephone line of veteran journalist, Tikaram Regmi, used to be disconnected almost every day. The army cuts off all telephone lines to Ghorahi and Tulsipur 15 minutes before they set on their search operations. Whenever the protests are against the royal takeover, the local newspapers are bound to describe it as 'Demonstration in favor of democracy' not 'Demonstration against the royal step'.

Soldiers came to Radio Sargadwari on February 1 and warned strongly not to pass any comment against the royal proclamation that they said would be made at 10 a.m. The soldiers came back at 11 a.m. and asked to stop the broadcast. They came back again at 1 p.m. Finally at 4 p.m. the army said in quite a threatening tone, 'This is going to be something as in Pakistan, don't tell anyone outside about our coming here, whatever order is to come within couple of days next would come.' After that, for one full week, there was no news but all songs on the radio. From March 11 onwards, they started relaying whatever the newspapers published, but the administration has now stopped even that. Due to this obstacle, the people have relied on the Maoist owned 'Radio Janaganatantra'. The police have also demanded every bit of information about the equipment of Sargadwari Radio.

Bardiya

On February 19, Rajendraprasad Dhital and Meghraj Sigdel of Bardiya Samacharpatra were called and asked to be careful while writing news in future. As the publisher was not ready to take the risk, the threatening ultimately led to the closure of the newspaper. Though the CDO called them to his office on February 2 and instructed to act in accordance with the prevailing situation. No written directive or order was handed over to them. Army and police did not come to the newspaper's office. Babai Weekly, Krishnasaar Weekly and Bardiya Times are still being published; there is no independent environment though. The situation is so volatile that even land-mafias while making the best use of the situation issue death warnings to journalists. There is absolutely no environment in which the media persons can write about the February 1 royal takeover or the corruption in the government offices.

The army did not allow on-the-spot reporting about the Ganeshpur incident till the next day. Local newspapers, of course, wrote about the incident later. The army showed 46 bodies of the Maoists and forced all newspapers to write the same. On the other hand, Maoist owned radio service broadcast that the outfit lost only 2 dozen comrades in Ganeshpur and 18 more in Khara. After this, people had the impression that listening to either Radio Nepal or Radio Janaganatantra would be worthwhile. The survey conducted by Annapurna National Daily through its reporters was criticized badly. The survey was aimed at collecting unnecessary information for a newspaper as on jails, inmates, strength of the police force, development infrastructure in the terrain and the distance to the Indian border. Therefore, the local journalists have strong reservations about the survey.

Surkhet

After the royal proclamation was made, army reached the offices of all newspapers and issued a blatant warning to stop all publication activities till further notification. As a result, Suseli, Bulbule and Kankrebihar Dainik as well as Surkhet Bihani, Karnali Post, Digo Bigyapan and Chharchhimek Weeklies had to be closed down.

According to the understanding reached between the Surkhet district branch of the FNJ and the local administration on February 14, three dailies and two weeklies were permitted to resume their operation on the condition of informing the administration in advance. It was instructed that the master copies of the papers would be submitted to the administration before 7 O'clock in the evening. This continued for around 20 days.

The administration further did not allow publishing news on the political parties' protest programmes and put forward the condition of disclosing the news source. In the meantime, FNJ held another round of talks with the CDO upon which it was agreed that the headlines of the news items would be relayed on the telephone. This practice is in vogue even today. If the telephone call is not made on a particular day, or if the master copy is not sent for the perusal, then they are called and asked, “Do you want to face the trial or want to send it?” This attitude terrorized the media persons in the district.

Kalendra Sejuwal, the vice president of FNJ's Surkhet district office, had to face much humiliation for publishing news on January 30 that is before the royal takeover. Immediately after February 1, security forces carried out extensive search operations at his Bihaani Weekly's office. The process continued for another three to four days. On February 2 editor Sejuwal was called to the district administration office. The administration tired to force him to sign a paper stating that the news published before royal proclamation was false. He has refused to do so arguing that the news was written under totally different circumstances for which he has not yet been allowed to resume his publication. Citing irregular publication, the administration has barred the paper from getting a permanent status.

Kamalraj Regmi, a central executive member of FNJ and a journalist working for Radio Bheri, was arrested while protesting against the king's takeover. He was later released on April 26 under the pressure of this fact-finding team.

The administration has issued a three-month detention order to Nepal Bar Association's Surkhet district secretary, Nanda Bhandari, who was arrested for writing an article in Bihaani Weekly, advocating the release of student Narendra Karki. When Civil Society's president Lokprasad Pant filed a writ petition in the court demanding his release, the district administration office gave him detention papers for further six months. Furthermore, Pant himself had been detained. This shows the danger of working as a social campaigner.'

On February 1, soldiers were posted at the office of Radio Bheri for two hours. Following the royal move, all the station broadcast songs. When they started producing programs after a couple of days, the administration did not interfere. The ministry of broadcasting and information has sent a CD for transmission, but the station has not done so.

The FM stations can in no way survive by merely broadcasting songs and entertainment programmes. FM stations Tharu and Magar broadcast popular programmes in Nepalese language, which have dramatically gone down in recent times. They have not even broadcast the Radio Nepal news as the later has sent correspondence for making payment against its news bulletins.

A total of 12 journalists have been laid off from the regional transmission station of Radio Nepal at Surkhet. The center has censored social programs like 'Dalit Jagaran' and 'Prajanan Swasthya'. It also does allow the use of terminology like 'struggle', 'freedom', 'movement' and 'organization' and call the concerned songs as 'Jaagriti Song', songs of awareness in the vernacular. The publication of Dalit Awaj Monthly has also been stopped. Likewise, a human rights-based program called 'Shanti Jagaran' also was allowed to be broadcast after two months of censorship. Cable television channels were blocked for three days. Later on, the CDO called and asked to stop wiring all news channels.

Karnali Post published Deuda song (a type of regional folk song) on its editorial page. When it criticised the royal move through 'Raibaar', a program in local language, no action was taken against it because the administration could not make head or tail of it. When Maoists torched down tankers, the media persons reached the site when the security forces failed to do so. The local journalists cannot forget the bitter experience when the national dailies asked them to send the news with 'quotes' from the security forces. Not only this, the rebels destroyed the post office in front of them, but the newspapers did not report it.

When Bulbule Dainik published a blank editorial, the administration interrogated him. Accordingly, when the newspaper tried to take pictures of the protest against the royal proclamation, the police tried to interfere and snatch the camera. The newspapers could not even publish the press releases of the political parties. When they published news about the World Bank's waiver of assistance to Nepal, the administration used force to elicit the news information.

Dailekh

After the February 1, it was almost an undeclared decree for the journalists not to move out of the district headquarters. Citing security reasons, the army barred journalists from visiting the remote adjacent villages.

Dailekh correspondent, Dharmabahadur Bista, wrote an article on 'Father Nandabahadur Sarki's son Deepak Karki', a blunder in the distribution of citizenship certificates. He was later forced to sign a paper saying he would not publish any news in future without informing the CDO. He was not only forced to attend the hearing for seven days, but was also beaten up.

The Maoists had threatened to kill 10 journalists in Dailekh district and threatened to chop off hands of journalists Bhupendra Sahi and Kamal Neupane. They killed Dhekendraraj Thapa But after February 1 journalists in the district had to face threats from both the rebels and the state. Thus, plainclothes security officials beat up Radio Nepal reporter, Yagyaraj Thapa. The situation is so atrocious that journalists and human rights activists have been beaten for taking photograph of people slain by the Maoists.

Karnali Zone

K.B. Jumli, Nepal Samacharpatra correspondent, was arrested as soon as he landed at the Jumla Airport on February 1. It was to punish him for the report titled 'Corruption in 5 hundred thousand rupees of VDC'. The Maoists detained him for 93 days. Likewise, the security forces barred journalists from writing news on their beating up civilians when many security personnel got injured in a bomb planted by the Maoists. On April 21, Mr. Jumli was seriously injured when an army vehicle hit him in Nepalgunj.

There is no pre-censorship for Karnali Sandesh as it is published from Nepalgunj. But a provision has been laid to send the news to the brigade head and the CDO. The security units seem not to have a good attitude to the few journalists in the Karnali Zone

Obstacles in distribution and sale

The area administration office at Tulsipur in Dang district has banned the distribution of all weeklies except the dailies from Kathmandu. Local newspaper sellers were summoned to the CDO office and were asked to give a formal statement promising that they would not sell any weeklies. At the same time, the authority has stopped the distribution and sale of many papers including Janasangharsh published from Butwal. Such a declared measure has not been taken in other districts. There have been many obstacles in the distribution and sale of newspapers. The shopkeepers have incurred serious losses as the dispatches do not reach them.

The condition of employment and advertisement: Before and Now The government has already instructed all concerned offices not to provide government advertisement to private sector media. After the circulation of the concerned ministry was received, the Water-borne Calamities Office called off an advertisement set to be published in Kankrebihar Daily which was later provided to the Gorkhapatra Daily, a government mouthpiece. The agriculture development office in Jumla district has not only shunned giving advertisement to private media, but has also stopped subscribing to the newspapers.

Revenue generation through advertisement has been severely affected after the FM stations stopped news transmission. According to Nepalgunj-based Bageswori FM, it has lost 80 per cent of its advertisement after the February 1 royal takeover. More than 30 stringers working in different districts have been laid off. Radio Sargadwari only has sent 6 reporters on leave. 12 journalists working with the Radio Bheri Awaj have been rendered jobless. Same is the case with other newspapers and radio service. As far as the radio is concerned, it has lost everything including its listeners, advertisers and business.

Suggestion of the local media persons

Even during autocratic Panchayati regime, newspapers were allowed to write about the political parties by mentioning the initial 'Pra' of 'Pratibandhit' (meaning banned in the vernacular). But the February 1 royal takeover chocked that level of freedom of expression. Citing this present hostile situation, the expectation of the readers has gone up, but the space is very little that newspapers are not able to provide information even as much as the Radio Nepal, a government sponsored medium. In the nutshell, the circulation of newspapers and magazines has gone down drastically, along with affecting the credibility of newspapers. There has been an evident decline in advertisement, and employment.

The media has turned out to be a 'Directed Journalism' in this part of the country. The administration allows the printing of newspapers for the sake of showing them in the market, but there are no signs of freedom left.

Publishers and editors of many newspapers openly admitted, 'We are taking out the publications for the sake of regularity. We are not disseminating facts, but illusions.' Therefore, it is of no surprise that the state is after the press. Army and administration blame each other for everything. Thus, the press is reeling under terror and perplexity.

The reaction of the human rights activists and the civil society

In general, human rights activists and the representatives of the civil society have shown concern over plight of the press freedom in the country. Every one can easily see that the very existence of the press is in danger due to the lack of freedom. Under the present context, the newspapers cannot continue publishing for long due to lack of standard objectivity, analysis and views.

The process of information dissemination and its condition

The country has no environment for an independent news reporting. Security units and administrative bodies are the main stumbling blocks for doing field reporting. The state has no organized body as the source of reliable information. There is no question of writing about the Maoists; it has led to biased and one-sided news materials.

However, the army no more posts soldiers at the media offices like before. They no more issue stern directives and censor the news materials. But the pressure of the administration continues unabated. This trend is more acute in Surkhet and Dailekh than Dang, Bardiya and Banke districts. The administration has not called off its 12-point directive in Banke for which its pressure continues to be built up on journalists' community.

Conclusion and suggestion

Journalists and the entire media sector in the midwestern region have been the target of both the rebels and the state. The situation got bad to worse after the February 1 royal takeover.

Taking over the country under the pretext of restoring peace and restricting freedom of the press in the name of the state of emergency is taken as the murder of the democratic system. The suspension of press freedom has worsened the situation in the remote areas. The way innocent people have been caught between the two sets of guns, the media has been its apt reflection. The fact find mission of the team has boosted the morale of the media persons and the civil society and suggested the following steps which must be taken in order to end the current quagmire the media is passing through:

Presenter
Surya Thapa
on behalf of Mid Western Region Monitoring Team