Incident Reports

Protests over municipal center relocation turn violent, journalists attacked

2018-03-03

Karnali, Dolpa, Thuli Bheri

Angry over the shifting of Dolpa's Thulobheri Municipality's center from Dunai to Juphal, agitating locals have intensified protests which are increasingly turning violent. The protestors in Dunai attacked media persons affiliated with various media agencies during the protests on Saturday afternoon. They attacked the journalists accusing them of not covering their protests and colluding with municipality chief Ganesh Bahadur Shahi. The protestors also demanded the disbandment of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ). Journalist Bishnulal Budha of Kantipur daily, who is also a former chairperson of the Dolpa chapter of FNJ, and Tek Bahadur Shahi of AP1 Television, who is also the treasurer of the district chapter of FNJ, were attacked during the protests. Budha is said to have sustained internal injuries after being attacked by a group of protestors. However, the protestors' accusation doesn't hold true as media publications nationwide have been covering the protests ever since they began last week. Most of the protestors have been participating in the protests after taking alcohol and other intoxicating substances, posing threats to the general public. In the aftermath of the attack, journalists in the district have demanded security from the District Administration Office (DAO), Dolpa. ठुलीभेरी नगरपालिकाको केन्द्र दुनैबाट जुफाल सारेको बिरोधमा जारी आन्दोलनले हिंसात्मक रुप लिएको छ। आन्दोलनको प्रचारप्रसार नगरेको र नगरप्रमुख गणेशबहादुर शाहीसँग मिलेको आरोप लगाउँदै पत्रकार महासंघ डोल्पाका पूर्व अध्यक्ष बिष्णुलाल बुढा, कोषाध्यक्ष टेकबहादुर शाही र सदस्य लेखबहादुर बुढामाथि आक्रमण गरेका हुन्। आक्रमणबाट बुढा घाइते भएका छन्। फागुन १६ गतेबाट नगरपालिकाको केन्द्र सारिएको बिरोधमा दुनैमा आन्दोलन जारी छ। आक्रमण भएपछि पत्रकार महासंघले आन्दोलनकारीका कुनै समाचार सम्प्रेषण नगर्न आग्रह गरेको छ साथै जिल्लामा कार्यरत सञ्चारकर्मी असुरक्षित भएको भन्दै जिल्ला प्रशासन कार्यालयको ध्यानाकर्षण समेत गराएको छ।
Details and Impacts
Violent / Non-violent Violent
Onesided / Twosided Onesided
Collective / Interpersonal Collective
Primary Form Assault (small group)
Secondary Form Attack on Journalist
Weapons Unclear , Unclear
Primary Cause Contestation over Constitution and federal restructuring
Actor 1 - Number of people 10
Actor 1 - Affiliations Citizen/Individuals , Citizen/Individuals
Actor 1 - Youth unknown
Actor 2 - Number of people 3
Actor 2 - Affiliation (Target) Journalist/Media
Actor 2 - Youth unknown
Total Injured 1
National/Online Media , INSEC

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