Minister publicly insults a journalist, saying he should be physically attacked
MEDIA ACTION NEPAL/ July 29: Rajeev Gurung notoriously known as Deepak Manange, the current Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport for the Gandaki Provincial Government in Nepal, has publicly insulted a journalist by stating that the latter should be physically attacked, which constitutes an incitement to violence against media.
During a press interaction on July 28, Gurung singled out a journalist by name and stated that this journalist should have been attacked instead of the two other journalists who were targeted. Gurung, who entered politics from a gangster background and won a second term as an independent MP, has not only set a record by becoming a minister for the sixth time, but he is also constantly in the spotlight for his controversial activities.
When he was sports minister, Amrit Subedi, bureau chief of Onlinekhabar Gandaki Province, had written a story regarding his malpractices, and recently Gurung hit several headlines due to his inappropriate behaviour inside his ministerial office. Again, after becoming minister in the provincial government, he has been committing several misconducts, including drinking inside the office, nudity and whatnot, according to Subedi. “I had heard several complaints regarding Gurung’s behaviour,” he told Media Action Nepal. “Following my leads, I got the video from my sources and wrote an article in OnlineKhabar with his half nude photo from his office.”
Journalists beaten by transport workers
Meanwhile, another incident occurred on same day where two Pokhara based journalists were beaten and injured, and their equipment, including their cameras and phones, were snatched by the agitating transport workers despite the fact that they shouted and informed the crowd that they’re journalists and revealed their identities. Binu Thapa, a reporter at Pokhara Television, and Suraj Thapa, Executive Director at Gandaki Voice, who had gone in field himself to report after hearing the ongoing agitation “Binu was sitting on the back of my scooter, and she started recording and capturing the videos and photos,” he told Media Action Nepal. “We told them that we are journalists, however, agitators turned fierce and thrashed inhumanely. I got saved due to my helmet, or else I would have been severely injured.”
Subsequently, responding to journalists, minister Gurung reprehensibly stated, “Amrit Subedi had to be beaten up instead of two other poor journalists who were reporting agitation in Pokhara.” A few days earlier, Subedi published a news article in Onlinekhabar featuring a photo of the minister wearing indecent outfit inside his office. Since then, the photo went viral on social media. Angered by this, Gurung stated, in response to the beating of journalists in Pokhara, that Subedi should be beaten instead.
“Who is the journalist who published a story on me with my pictures in a vest? What’s his name? Amrit Subedi,” he is heard saying in a video. “They should have targeted Amrit Subedi; instead of beating poor journalists.” Amrit Subedi, on the other hand told Media Action Nepal that he received several calls requesting the removal of the published story.
Media Action Nepal condemns the irresponsible remarks made by the minister. “Such irresponsible statements incite violence against journalists and undermine the very principles of democracy and the freedom of the press,” said Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of Media Action Nepal.