News Analyis: Escalating violence in Nepal's Terai region poses threats to journalists

Nepal's southern plain has turned into a battleground with violence escalating in recent days, as the ongoing protests of the disgruntled ethnic-minority Madhesi people along the Indo-Nepal border centered in the municipality of Birgunj has crippled everyday life.

As the two-and-a-half month long protest against the state is getting to an extreme level, even journalists have started to feel insecure during location reporting.

Thapa, a Xinhua photo journalist who reached Birgunj on Tuesday said over the phone, "The situation here is extremely tense. Police have suggested journalists not to take out their cameras as protesters seem aggressive towards media personnel. Reporting is full of risk."

There have been a few incidents of attacks on journalists by the agitated groups in the past weeks, and the the death of an Indian national on Monday at the hands of the police has served as a catalysts to spark further unrest.

On Monday, 22-year-old Asis Ram Sarraf from Raxual, India was shot dead by police in after a situation turned violent in the city, some 137 kilometers from Kathmandu.

The police had detained half a dozen protesters of which two were Indian nationals, a spokesperson for the Nepalese police force said.

Birgunj, a major trading point between Nepal and India, which has remained closed after India imposed an unofficial blockade against this South Asian country, was captured by the Madhesi protesters 40 days ago, although they said theirs was a "peaceful resistance."

The irate protesters have been venting their frustration against mainstream media personnel claiming that their reports and coverage are biased and in favor of political and commercial interests.

On Tuesday, a local journalist Bidyarthi Giri was injured by a petrol bomb thrown by the protesters.

"There are protests in different corners of the city. Groups of locals have been seen burning tires in the major cross-sections since the early morning. It is difficult for us to cover the demonstration as anything

can happen here anytime," Xinhua photo journalist Thapa stated.

The local administration had issued an indefinite curfew on the city from 3:00 pm local time on Monday and it has been extended until this afternoon.

In the first week of September, photo journalist Bikram Rauniyar was attacked by police personnel while he was covering a protest in another Terai district Janakpur. Rauniyar, who belongs to the Terai region, sustained bodily injuries and also had his equipment broken.

Rauniyar told Xinhua, "Journalists need to be protected from both the police and protesters during such mass demonstrations. The protesters' side always pressurizes the publishing or broadcasting of news

in their favor, whereas the police do not want us to capture the clashes."

Hence it has been difficult for the press community to cover the demonstrations due to their volatility, compounded by the fact that there is a slim difference between accredited journalists and local activists, who report to their respective parties or organizations.

Prakash Mathema, a photo journalist with Agence France-Presse (AFP) who is in Birgung told Xinhua, "Reporting these protest movements is full of risk. The only thing we can do is to stay in safe regions and perform our duty."

More than 40 protesters and eight police personnel have already lost their lives in the violent clashes in the recent months in the Terai region bordering India.

The Madhesi parties have been launching their movement in the southern plains expressing their dissatisfaction on demarcation of seven federal provinces adopted in the new constitution. However, rounds of talks between the Nepalese government and aggrieved parties have not yielded any positive results yet.

With the violence reaching a fever pitch, if the impasse is not bridged soon through constrictive action and dialogue, it is certain that both the state and the Madhesi people stand to pay significant losses, observers have said. Enditem