Maoist union at it again, intervenes in Kantipur
The Maoist-affiliated trade union has prevented Kantipur Publication from collecting and publishing advertisements from Wednesday.
The Publication, which publishes Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post dailies, has said that the union move was aimed at financially crippling the publication and attacking the freedom of press.
Issuing a statement, managing director Kailash Sirohiya has said that the move had infringed upon the right to information of the common people.
The Publication has said that although earlier the All Nepal Communication and Printing Publication Workers' Union, which is affiliated with the Maoists, had agreed to sign an agreement reached with the management on September 9; they suddenly backed down and announced agitation by giving an ultimatum of September 25.
The Publication has said that the union had resorted to stopping the publishing despite assurances to fulfill their demands. It has said that this smacks of their totalitarian character. The Publication has said that it will compensate its customers who fail to get the newspapers due to disruption.
In the past, the Maoist-affiliated union had similarly stopped publishing of Nepal Samacharpatra, The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post dailies.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepalese Journalist (FNJ) issuing a statement Thursday denounced the disruption created by the Maoist-affiliated trade union in Katipur publications. FNJ said the act openly flouted press freedom.
Asserting that the right of the people to information would be curtailed by such acts of the Maoists, the FNJ said that this incident had drawn its “serious attention”.
In the statement, FNJ president Bisnhnu Nisthuri called upon all concerned sides to find a solution to all the existing problems in an amicable manner through dialogue.
Similarly, Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) has termed the disruption in Kantipur Publication as a “blatant attack” on free press.
Issuing a statement today RJP called upon the Maoists to respect the people’s right to information by immediately stopping these kinds of acts. nepalnews.com sd/ag Sep 27 07
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