Landmark Verdict

FORCED sex is tantamount to rape and rape is a serious crime-no matter whoever is the aggressor. That is what the Supreme Court has ruled. In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday declared rape as any sexual intercourse between married couples without the wife’s consent. That clause had given married men and sole the unbridled right to determine, demand or order sex with wife at their will. The consent of the wife was not felt necessary only because she was married. The latest verdict has also declared null and void a provision in the Civil Code that said rape of a prostitute without her free will was punishable with a fine up to Rs. 500 or with an imprisonment of up to one year. Women activists had long been contesting that these laws were discriminatory and had not only ignored women’s will, but also made them submissive when it came to sex. Prepared or not they could never resist physical reunion when the husbands wanted it. Now they can say no and it is very important, for it does check the tendency to take wives for granted on matters of sex. While this verdict is expected to draw little bit of flak all members of society should take such responses by the stride and just move ahead. The Supreme Court has already issued a directive order to the Legislature and the defendant. His Majesty’s Government is to replace laws keeping in mind the spirit of this verdict. It is only advisable that the legislative and the Executive response positively to the Judiciary. They can not waste a number of years as in the case of the property rights bill. Such a practice will also help maintain a positive balance of power between the state organs. In the years following the restoration of democracy Nepal’s Judiciary has been "women friendly" and the apex court has made a number of decisions, contributing to the promotion of the ‘weaker sex". This is a very positive step towards mainstreaming and empowering women in view of the changing times.

Media And Terrorism

EVERY year on World Press Freedom Day that falls on May 3 media institutions and journalists all over the world train their focus on the conditions that media are operating in. Nepal also joins the world in celebrating the press freedom day. Giving their messages on the occasion, Nepalese media leaders representing various media institutions working to promote freedom of expression and the press were quite unequivocal that Nepali media are passing through difficult times. While one of them quite rightly said that the freedom of expression cannot be imagined under the shadow of terrorism and that journalism cannot flourish in the absence of a conducive and peaceful environment, another spoke of the fact that the press in Nepal was actively working to preserve and protect the freedom of the press on the basis of limited rights at a time when the constitutionally-guaranteed press freedom has been suspended due to the very terrorism. Nepal has been facing the scourge of terrorism particularly more intensely over the past months.Naturally, the Nepalese media have also felt the impact of the current situation. That this year’s World Press Freedom Day theme is "terrorism and media freedom" is quite relevant in the context of Nepal and indeed the rest of the world too. In many parts of the world, mediapersons have had to function under the long shadow of terrorism. Some 50 journalists have been killed in the past two years while covering violent conflicts, says a joint message on the Day from United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.

Their view that the greatest service that the media could render in the fight against terrorism was to act freely, independently and responsibly holds ever true in the Nepalese conditions too. It may be added that while exercising the right to write or broadcast independent and free news and views, media are also ethnically-bound to practice responsible journalism. In a situation like the one in Nepal now, where a state of emergency has been declared following Maoists’ latest round of violence starting last November, the press has an added responsibility. While striving to present to the public the most correct account of the event, they must be extra vigilant that they do not become a tool for propaganda by terrorists. Difficult though the times are, Nepalese media must continue to perform as best as they can in presenting truths.