Himalayan News Service

Pokhara, January 9:

UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal has conceded that political parties had not been paying much attention to press freedom for the past few years.

“Political parties were engrossed with internal conflict and did not have time to think about other matter,” he said. He was responding to journalists’ complaints after an interaction on the condition of Nepali Press in the present context.

He said existence of free political situation is impossible without free press.” He stressed on the need for advocates of free press movement to exert pressure on parties to do away the problems in the Press sector.

Earlier, speaking at the interaction, senior journalist Hem Bahadur Bista complained that the political parties were taking trying to take control of the journalism sector.

He also claimed that the warring parties were responsible for the security of war journalists.