Sunday, December 21, 2008

Suresh Raj supporter Ashutosh Tiwari attacked



When I heard that Ashutosh Tiwari, CEO, of Himal Media was attacked, I immidiately sensed that inevitable has happened. But, the problem is that for this attack also the Maoists are being blamed. It is true that general people, mainly the ones who have been exploited and abused so far, have become aggressive with ascendancy of the Maoists in Nepal. Employees, teachers, and many other have been subject to exploitation in Nepal. Rampant termination, caste harassment and persecution of the voices against nepotism and corruption had become an order of the day. When ordinary people go to administration, the administration never take action. And when they raise their voices in public forums, people like Ashutosh Tiwari, advise that "Take the complaints to the KU governing board, and NOT to the newspapers at this point. The results of washing the dirty laundry in public have NEVER been favorable to the plaintiffs in Nepal (in my limited observations!). Nepali newspapers print so many bad things about so many people all the time that nobody believes them for anything any more except read the stuff for juicy gossip for a day or two."

Given recent spate of media reports and uproar in Constituent Assembly of Nepal, it is likely that some untoward incident might have taken place in Himal Media. But, it is very difficult to believe what Himal Media is saying. In the past, we have bitter experience with Himal Media as it biasedly favoured Suresh Raj Sharma without listening to the voices of the agitating teachers and staffs. Please refer to our previous post Suresh Raj's new gimmick and read what KUPA GS Dr. Sameer Dixit has commented.

Himal Media claims that the Maoists attacked them because of their Feature report in vernacular weekly "Himal." At the same time, it is an open secret that the Himal Media is terminating jobs also. So, a neutral Nepali, who do not have to earn livelihood by writing in Newspapers, find it very difficult to ascertain who is right and who is wrong. It is quite possible that the Management itself might have carried out this kind of attack to hurry closure of the office to give permanency to the job termination. 

Borrowing the words of Ashutosh Tiwari, I like to suggest him and Himal Media to take the complaints to Press council, Police and even to supreme court. In my limited observations, washing the dirty underwear in public have never been favorable to the plaintiffs. Nepali newspapers print so many bad things that people are considering recent uproar in CA against attack on Himal Media also as a ploy of G.P. Koirala to defame the Maoist government led by Prachanda. Girija many become happy as he has some juicy gossip to discredit the Maoists. But, others will forget this story after a couple of days. 

4 comments:

Critical Masseur said...

Thank you for your suggestion.

Himalmedia is indeed "tak[ing] the complaints to Press council, Police and even to [supreme] court."

In the last few days, Himalmedia has been overwhelmed with words of support that have poured in via

emails,
phone calls,
text messages, and
personal visits

from:

-subscribers,
-readers,
-employees,
-ex-employees,
-other media houses in Nepal,
-advertisers,
-heads of various businesses around Nepal
-human rights agencies from around the world
-media organizations from around the world
-friends, relatives and well-wishers
-civil society leaders
- Constituent Assembly members of all political parties.
-newspaper distributors
-news-stand owners, and so on.

Thank you all.

Himalmedia must have been doing a something right to have earned such overt widespread support.

Re: SRS

I went back and re-read what I posted on Sajha in Sept 2006 -- more than two years ago.

I am fine with the posting even as I re-read it this morning, and if you use it to label me this and that, please, be my guest.

I well know that in some circles in Nepal, to think differently and to give different suggestion are invitations to be labeled an "enemy" of some sort, and I thank you for your obvious broad-mindedness on this matter.

Again, thank you for your suggestion.

oohi
ashu

Critical Masseur said...

I stumbled upon this posting while doing a Google search.

Thank you for your suggestion.

Himalmedia has indeed taken the complaints to Press council, Police and even to [supreme] court.

Meantime, I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to:

-employees of Himalmedia
-ex-employees of Himalmedia
-media professionals from Nepal and around the world
-advertisers and suppliers
-Nepali business communities
-Nepali human rights communities
-subscribers
-readers
-news-stand owners
-friends and well-wishers,
-librarians, etc

for their words and actions of support via

emails,
personal visits,
text messages, and
phone calls and write-ups.

As you know, it's one thing to rant and rave for years for change. It's another to get actionable support from well-wishers.

Let's hope that Himalmedia continues to get the latter in
days and times ahead.

As for SRS, I am not sure -- as per my Sajha posting of more than TWO years ago in Sept 2006 (please see the link provided by you) -- whether my meeting SRS twice in my life (for a total of no more than 30 minutes) so far qualifies me as his die-hard supporter.

But I am aware that those people who suggest others to do things DIFFERENTLY for results are bound to be labeled with all sorts of nonsense in Nepal, and I thank you for upholding this fine tradition.

Again, thank you for your suggestions, and I wish you well.

oohi
ashu

pradhyapak said...

Dear Ashu Jee,

Congratulations for overwhelming support you have received.

Wish you all the best. Hope Press council, police and Supreme court will deliver you the justice.

I wish you and Himal Media that your fate will not be like that of our colleague Buddhi Bahadur Bishwakarma who had to face power harassment in KU and end his life.

Now, as regards SRS getting support from Himal Media, everyone in KU knows the truth. KUPA GS has openly written that Himal Media is quite biased in favor of SRS. Why Himal Media is biased and whose interests are involved are the things still not known to me. Admission, professorship or scholarship- this is yet to be ascertained. But, we will let you know, once we find out.

You are absolutely right that being different never works in Nepal. We need to be bootlickers, careerists and toady to be successful. If we start presenting our own opinion, people start claiming that we are attacking "a visionary." If we oppose the nepotism of a VC, people claim that we are causing inconvenience to a "development oriented educationist." If we oppose corruption, people claim that we are impractical to have raised such issues in a third world country like Nepal. In Nepal, people appreciate only if you become toady, subservient and careerists.

Thanks for visit.

Regards,
Pradhyapak

Unknown said...

Dear Ashuji

I am following the article and the subsequent series of discussions between yourself and pradhyapak ji.. i just felt I might add something here:

I am sorry for what happened to HM, not just because my first cousins are involved with it, but also because I strongly believe that violence in any form is the worst possible way to suppress basic rights of a free citizen of any country. In this regard I strongly deplore the incident and hope this is never repeated again.

Having said that: it is really sad that media in this country appears to be still biased towards majority based public beliefs and less on investigative based reporting and fact finding. I have openly challenged Ms. Mallika Aryal in my previous posting here regarding her role in glamorizing SRS in her Nepali Times column few years ago. To this day I strongly feel that she reported without doing her homework. If this is the case, her current articles need to be scrutized for their authenticity.

You have mentioned SRS in your posting where you appear to have formed an opinion of the person on the basis of two meetings lasting less than 30 minutes. Had you consulted the people that were actually making their voices heard, aka KUPA, you might have had a more realistic viewpoint.

I accept that what was said two years ago is not a basis to tag anyone. However, my query is: since then, have you tried to see the real picture of KU? If not, I would request that you do, because journalists sometimes need to rise above themselves and their preconceived notions and beliefs to get to the real truth, however absurd it may appear to be.

Sameer M Dixit