Nepali journalist Kishor Budhathoki was brutally assaulted in eastern Nepal on 11 August. According to Republica, Budhathoki was attacked for a piece he wrote about domestic violence. He is currently in a critical condition. Budhatoki writes for The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post, and also serves as vice president of the local chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, a press freedom watchdog.
Chief editor Ram Pukar Raut, and editor Pravin Sharma Jha, of the New Times Today have been arrested by police in the Southern Nepalese district of Rautahat. They were charged with having links with a militant underground group, and printing a press release from the group. Sources from the newspaper assert that the arrests were a response to an article in the newspaper alleging that the police had taken bribes from an animal smuggler.
New Delhi’s Central Board of Film Classification has refused to certify the documentary Flames of the Snow. The body stated that any film which romanticises and promotes the violence of the Maoist groups in Nepal is inappropriate viewing for the general public. The feature documents over 200 years of relations between Nepalese rebels and the Indian establishment. The director of the film, Ashish Srivastava and its Kathmandu-based producers, Group for International Solidarity, intend to launch a campaign to oppose the banning. Another film entitled, Village of Widows, which features Benazir Bhutto vehemently criticising the Indian state and the burning of an Indian flag in Kashmir has also been censored by the authorities.
The Nepalese government has banned a social studies textbook after complaints from Muslim groups. The book has been criticised for including factual inaccuracies and an “erroneous interpretation” of Islam: one particular illustration is alleged to portray a feminised image of the prophet Mohammed. This marks the first time religious outcry has caused the banning of a book in Nepal, where Hinduism was removed from its position at the state religion in 2006.