Thursday, January 25, 2007

N.P.UPADHYAYA

I have been writing through these columns that we the media men were not above the laws of the land. Nor were we sacrosanct that the society at large should digest to our at times horrible writings and stories.

By the same token, we the media men do not possess the exclusive rights to defame others. We do not have the right to assassinate characters of others more so of those who have been leading the society and are considered to be the main men behind the Nepali politics.

Albeit, we possess the right to expose their wrongdoings but that too in a dignified way that is digested well by the society. Yes we do have the authority to write the stories that connect them with cases of corruption. Indeed, they must be exposed as and when they divide the society and bring in clashes in and among various ethnic tribes in the country.

Good or bad they are our leaders. Good or bad they are supposed to lead the nation. Good or bad they have been respected and honored by the society around them. Good or bad, they should be told to run the country And not that we should "import" foreign leaders and told to run this country. Good or bad, we pin high hopes on them. Good or bad, let's respect them until they are found guilty by the laws of the land.

As the chief editor of this weekly, I admit that we are too critical of their political performances of the past. We admit that we have made thousands of stories wherein we have exposed their wrongdoings in politics. Yes! This we will continue to do so. However, what we will refrain from doing is assassinating their personal characters. We will continue to respect them as fathers of Nepali politics till they are dominating the country's political scene. If some day their second-generation leaders replace them, that would be entirely a different thing. We will do then accordingly. Nevertheless, we will stick to real media ethics until they resound in Nepali politics.

It is in this light we beg to differ with what a media man last week told of Girija Prasad Koirala, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Madhav Nepal. He described Koirala as the most "disgraced" or "unfortunate" one in the Nepali politics. Similarly, he went on to describe Deuba as a "black-spot" of the country's politics and madhav Nepal he coined him as a "curse".

It is not that. Neither Koirala is a disgraced personality nor is Deuba and Mr. Nepal a black spot and a curse.

This is sheer nonsense to put a tag on one's personality if one differed with their politics. We have no right to call our own leaders in this disgraceful manner. This speaks of our own hollowness. This even speaks of how intellectually bankrupt we are in this profession.

A media man has no right to defame one's political personality. A media man in doing so is simply exposing his own conduct. We don't have the right to elevate our own image by insulting others.

By insulting our own leaders, should we bring in others to lead our nation on lease?

Let's learn from our own mistakes. At best the media man could have suggested these three political luminaries in their own right to mend their ways if he thought it to have deflected from the way it should have been. Up to this he has the right as a journalist. However, if one exceeds his or her stipulated limits of the established norms and the values of what a media man should do and what not, it would be highly objectionable and unacceptable to the more or less "informed" and "educated" society what we have today.

Good or bad, Koirala, Deuba and Madhav are our leaders. Let's respect them. Let us tell them to work more sincerely for the betterment of the Nepali society. But let us refrain from making personal and very disgusting comments on our own men manning today's politics.

Let us not exceed our functions. If we do it, we will cease the right to instruct others.

Good or bad, let's love and honor them. That's all.