After the former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Nepal Rabi Lamichhane resigned from his post and his ‘Rastriya Swatantra Party’ (National Independent Party) decided to leave the government, Lamichhane invited the media and poured out all he had to pour so that the mass public would know about the detrimental and evil practices that had happened, have happened and may happen any time anywhere.
One of the bitter things he expressed was about flourishing ‘bad’ journalism that is carried out to hide the crimes and to make fortunes either under the political protection or through the threat of murder, defamation, or intimidation of other bitter consequences. He charged big print and online media houses and some ‘popular’ online portals and he called the owners or runners of those media houses and online portals as ’12-brothers’. He accused them of looting the country, hiding the truth, and misleading the country and people.
Lamichhane further expressed disgust that these ’12-brothers’ are acting like political agents and challenges them to come to the mainstream politics, go to polls, win and do politics. With the press, he stressed that he will no longer tolerate such filthy journalistic practices. According to him, these ’12-brothers’ continuously plotted against him and chased him, tarnishing his image as ‘the person who has married four wives’ and involvement in other unlawful activities.
Every person is being watched by somebody but the person being watched may not realize so until they commit something unlawful and is told in public.
It looks like the ’12-brothers’ “attack” on Lamichhane has backfired. As Lamichhane was a popular journalist himself, he did not leave any stone unturned to charge them with serious accusations. ’12-brothers’ is a hot topic in Nepal’s social media and the effects of this have begun to appear in the rapid ripples. One of the ’12-brothers’ has already been attacked by one lady on social media that she had a relationship with him and that she was planning to go to the court to file her case. It looks like more hidden activities of the ’12-brothers’ and others are soon going to come to the fore.
A political analyst and former professor of Tribhuvan University has also raised the issue of how Nepali journalists are riding expensive cars, have kind of regular parties, and living lavish lifestyles. He questions where those journalists get so much money from. One ‘Facebooker’ writes in frustration: “how long to stay quiet, how long to tolerate”.
If we consider ‘pandora’s box’ as ‘deceitful and evil journalism’, the attack of so-called ’12-brothers’ on Rabi Lamichhane and Rabi Lamichhane’s attack on ’12-brothers’ appear to have opened the pandora’s box. Let’s just wait, and more and more hidden things of both the parties will (begin to) appear. As this incident of journalists’ alleged involvement in the “looting and misleading of the nation” has happened at a time when common people are already frustrated and have shown and expressed disgust to political parties and their leaders, more people are bound to come out and speak out. People are always watching. Every person is being watched by somebody but the person being watched may not realize so until they commit something unlawful and is told in public.
In a way, what has lately come out and will come out is good and will be good for Nepal. Hidden and dark practices should come to the fore. And sooner, the better.
Rishi Ram Paudyal, PhD Scholar at Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, is the author of the book “How Nepali English Teachers Enhance their English during their Career: A Narrative Inquiry.”
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