The other day I went through a news story that said the Parliamentary Special Hearing Committee would not entertain any complaints regarding the proposed appointees to the Supreme Court judgeship and ambassadorial posts unless they think it is logical.

Every Nepali who was involved in all democratic movements knows that Niranjan Thapa, the then home minister was implicated by an investigation commission saying that he had ordered to shoot demonstrators from a helicopter.

Likewise, Sapana Pradhan Malla, who is a former CA member from CPN-UML and is also involved in various INGOs. With her background is it worth appointing her as a Supreme Court justice? What kind of justice will she deliver when she is confirmed by the parliamentary hearing committee?

There are some other persons nominated by the KP Oli-led coalition government whose credibility can be questioned from the point of their loyalty to the federal democratic order.

The Parliamentary Special Hearing Committee must be prepared to listen to the public complaints against anyone recommended as a SC justice or an ambassador.

The parliamentary committee must have the courage to reject some of the persons if the committee gets genuine complaints against them.

Otherwise, the hearing process will just fulfill its constitutional formality.

Madhab P. Sharma, Kathmandu

Deportation

This is with reference to the news story “British-Lebanese TV host deported from Egypt to Beirut” (THT, June 30, Page 7).

The journalists have a big responsibility in disseminating news and views about what is happening in the world. They have a big role in informing, persuading and entertaining the audience.

Encompassing the role of a watchdog they applaud good actions and denounce the bad ones. While engaging in disseminating myriad of information they also face reprisals from powers that be just what happened to the British-Lebanese TV host.

The journalists sometimes do not enjoy press freedom even if they follow the journalistic codes of ethics. The press freedom is determined by the authorities of the concerned country. Most of the journalists are gagged or jailed or even deported from foreign land if the governments find any reports highly sensitive and detrimental to social and communal harmony.

As per the latest report published by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 73 journalists lost their life last year in war torn countries where they had been pressed to cover the political events, civil wars and ethnic conflicts.

The recent deportation of Lilian Daoud who hosted the show Al-Soura Al-Kamilia shows that the journalists have no freedom of expression and their safety is a burning issue.

With no editorial independence journalists often end up being a mouthpiece of the autocratic regimes in the countries where democracy has yet to set its roots.

Ankit Khadgi, Kathmandu