Kathmandu. On the occasion of the 111th birth anniversary of the first elected Prime Minister, BP Koirala, the Nepal Press Union Central Committee organized a program on ‘BP in the context of journalism’ today.
In the program held here, the speakers discussed the occasion of BP expressing high respect for journalism by asking journalists who have different views to ‘write critical news about the issues that I may have made mistakes while working’.
Senior journalist and political analyst Kamal Koirala said that such an opinion expressed by Prime Minister BP, who became the Prime Minister after the 2015 election when the opposition party was weak, with two-thirds of the votes, is clear about his opinion on journalism.
He said that the government led by BP has made arrangements to give advertisements to newspapers from the state in case of criticism of the government’s wrongdoings. “Father Krishna Prasad has been contributing to journalism in our family since Koirala. Krishna Prasad used to write in Janmabhoomi magazine where Suryavikram Gyawali was the editor. BP was also involved in journalism directly and indirectly, he also contributed to the literary magazine Sarada”, said senior journalist Kamal, who is also the son of BP’s brother Matrikaprasad Koirala.
He said that the current ruler should also follow what BP said to Madanmani Dixit, who was close to the Communist Party when he was the first elected Prime Minister. Koirala also informed that BP is of the opinion that with the help of the press that points out the wrongdoing, it will get an opportunity to correct itself by knowing its weaknesses.
Harihar Virhi, the former president of the Nepal Journalist Federation, expressed his happiness that the debate was held for the first time in connection with journalism, even though various programs have been held on topics such as politics, literature, and philosophy. He emphasized that to understand BP, it is necessary to study how he viewed the field of journalism. Mentioning that he got into journalism because of BP’s proximity and inspiration, he mentioned the occasion of BP’s subtle observation of how journalism and journalists have played their role. “During the Panchayat period, when BP was living in exile in India, he used to go under the guise of an undercover journalist from Nepal to understand BP and see the situation there, even knowing him, BP would easily give him an interview, he treated them the same as us”, recalled senior journalist Virhi.
The former president of Mahasangh and senior journalist Kishore Nepal expressed his happiness that the Nepali press world celebrated BP’s birthday for the first time and expressed the opinion that it took a long time for this sector to recognize a politician who loves the field of journalism. He emphasized on the fact that journalism is not able to deal with the issues in the present-day society, which is centered on individuals, and therefore changes are necessary. “Journalists should work to strengthen the society and the country, they should make news on matters of public interest by using language correctly, this is what BP expects from the field of journalism”, he said.
Shiv Lamsal, the President of the Union, promised to continue this as the first elected Prime Minister and the founding leader of Nepali Congress, BP’s understanding, cooperation and diverse aspects of journalism have been initiated.
The union organized the program on the eve of BP Jayanti on August 24. Rasas
