Prioritize border dispute with India

Nepal’s Media urged to prioritize border dispute with India

Nepal’s Constituent Assembly members and noted border experts have urged the main-stream Nepali media to accord top priority to border dispute(s) and Nepali land occupation by India along countless locations along the 1808 Km of open border with the southern neighbour-India.

The Press Council, Nepal, organized a one day seminar on “Nepal-India Border Issue: Role of Media”, on Tuesday June 30, 2009-the first ever of its kind by the media management body.

The Press Council is an autonomous body wherein the Chairman of the Council is nominated by the Government.

The working paper presenters at the seminar told media personnel that the continuous border encroachment by India has already threatened the sovereignty of Nepal.

Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, Nepal’s border expert, urged the media men to publish maps of the border while raising border dispute with India.

“National interest should be accorded top priority, lucrative portfolios should not be the preference of the politicians and the bureaucrats alike”, said Mr. Shrestha.

While urging the political leadership to address border dispute with India, Mr Shrestha, the senior retired bureaucrat, informed the participants that Nepal has border disputes with India in Kalapani, Susta, Tanakpur, Pashupati Nagar, Luna River, Laxman Pur Dam, Mahali Sagar Dam, Sarada Dam and Koilabas of Dang.

Poshan K.C, General Secretary of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, said that Nepali media has always kept border dispute with India in the top priority.

The Program was presided over by Narayan Sharma the chairman of the Press Council.

Telegraph Weekly, 2009-07-01 09:17:30