The Nepali journalists are being investigated following their online report about the health of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The Kathmandu Post reported on May 12 that they were being “probed for disseminating a news item regarding the Dalai Lama”. The three, Mohani Risal, Somnath Lamichhanne and Jivan Bhandari, work at the English desk of the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) national news agency in Nepal and picked up the reports of His Holiness’s discharge from hospital in Delhi after his short illness from the Indian press.
The Kathmandu Post continued, “Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota confirmed to the Post that the investigation was initiated at his orders”. Baskota is quoted as saying that the Tibet issue is “sensitive for China and dissemination of a report regarding the Dalai Lama by the state-run news agency […] was against Nepal’s commitment to [the] One-China policy” and that this is why the probe had been instigated.
The Post reported that, following publication of the article, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu raised concerns with the government of Nepal. There is the suggestion that staff on the Nepali state-owned daily, the Gorkhapatra, may have tipped off Baskota “because of internal politics in the state-owned paper”.
The journalists concerned are quoted in the Post as expressing reservations to the Chair of RSS about their working environment and the lack of press freedom. They are also quoted as saying to a colleague that “the Dalai Lama is a global newsmaker and that his health condition made important news for people around the world, including in Nepal”, and that they did not have any political reason for publishing the information.
Radio Free Asia(RFA) quotes Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia Director for Human Rights Watch as saying that under China’s influence, Nepal has recently experienced a growing crackdown on freedom of expression and that in an effort to appease China, Nepali authorities have placed numerous restrictions on the rights of Tibetan refugees.
RFA’s report continues, quoting Dilliram Batarai—one of the four people assigned by RSSto conduct the inquiry—as saying on May 14 that the investigation is still under way, and that “no statements have yet been released.” He continued, “RSS is a state-run news agency, however, and our investigation will be guided by Nepal’s relationship with China, by the One-China policy, and by Nepal’s foreign policy. So we report to higher authorities”.
The Tibetan Review reported that an official from Xinhua, China’s state news agency, had visited the RSS chairman the day after the news article was published online.
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