Kathmandu, September 10
Human rights activists, senior lawyers, and civic campaigners have strongly objected to Home Minister Sudhan Gurung’s remarks, calling them threatening toward journalists. They have demanded that Home Minister Gurung retract his objectionable statements and issue a public apology.
Former National Human Rights Commission member Sushil Pyakurel, senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, human rights activists Subodh Pyakurel, Shobhakar Budhathoki, and Som Niraula, women’s rights activist Shyam Kumari Sah, and youth activist Abhishek Adhikari issued a joint statement protesting the Home Minister’s remarks.
They stated that Home Minister Gurung’s remarks made on September 23 were, on the whole, objectionable, and expressed serious objection to the threatening language used against journalists.
According to their statement, the anarchic style and remarks of the Home Minister, who bears the primary responsibility for maintaining peace, security, and public order in the country and for disaster management, have diminished the dignity of the governance system itself.
“In the context where we have already treated the selection of the Home Minister and the ‘investigation’ into allegations against him with suspicion, Gurung’s aggressive comments toward journalists in general give us the impression that he does not understand the dignity, restraint, and seriousness required of the position and office he holds,” the statement states.
Reminding that a journalist’s primary duty is to question those in positions of state responsibility and hold them accountable, the rights activists noted that Nepal’s media has carried out its duty amid numerous challenges and threats since the Panchayat era.
They said the media played a responsible role from the anti-Panchayat movement, the armed conflict, the uncertainty following the royal palace massacre, and the struggle against Gyanendra Shah’s “Ashoj regime” all the way through the constitution-making process.
“Journalists will not be discouraged by threats”
Noting that Nepali journalists have previously confronted authoritarian-style rulers as well, the rights activists made clear that journalists would not back down in the face of fear, intimidation, or threats.
“We are confident that journalists who did not back down while exposing the truth in countless episodes in the past, such as the gold smuggling scandal, the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal, and the cooperative fraud scandal, will not be discouraged by the Home Minister’s threatening words,” the statement reads.
The activists also urged media professionals to report news responsibly within the bounds of the code of conduct, while once again drawing Home Minister Gurung’s attention to the demand that he immediately retract his words and apologise.
