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Alert

Journalist assaulted; activists attack press van, set fire to newspapers

(FNJ/IFEX) - Kamala KC, a reporter with the daily "Gorkhhapatra", was attacked by a group of people including the chief of the campus and the management committee of Nawajagriti Mulitple Campus in Tilhaar Dimuwa-5, Parbat on 20 July 2009. She was on duty reporting on a land dispute that involved the campus. KC sustained injuries to her head and forearm and her camera was seized.

FNJ's Parbat chapter and district-based journalists have condemned the incident and demanded action against the attackers.

In a separate incident, activists of the Tamsaling Joint Struggle Committee (TJSC) vandalised a press van belonging to Kantipur Publications in Sunachuri, Makawanpur district, on 22 July 2009. TJSC members had also vandalised a vehicle belonging to Kantipur Publications on 21 July.

The activists stopped the van at Sunachuri along the Bharatpur-Hetauda road and vandalised it following the company's decision to defy the strike called by the TJSC. The assailants took control of the vehicle for six hours and accused Kantipur Publications of not covering their news.

The vehicle was returning to Bharatpur after distributing the "Kathmandu Post" and "Kantipur" dailies in Kalaiya, Bara district.

In a related incident, protesters also set fire to copies of "Kantipur" and the "Kathmandu Post" in Khatripowa, near Naubise, in Dhading. The TJSC activists also torched copies of the "Annapurna Post" that were slated for distribution.

The TJSC has called for strikes in Chitwan, Makawanpur, Dhading, Kavre and other districts to pressure the government to implement the agreements signed with the Maoist-led government in April.