freedom1 Forum's attention has been drawn towards the behavior meted out journalist Ram Prasad Dahal by the Rajdhani administration on May 30, 2012. Ram Prasad Dahal, former journalist with the Rajdhani daily, was present before the daily's administration, demanding both wage and restoration in the daily as per the decision of the Labour Court. But, the Rajdhani administration denied providing wage and asked journalist Dahal to join office and continue works. Mr Dahal said the administration only focused on restoration in the daily rather than giving wage together. The administrative staff spoke in a threatening way to join office. As a result, he had to return empty handed. Earlier, the Labour Court, Kathmandu, on April 12, 2012, ordered Mahendra Sherchan, Chairman of Utsarga Publications Pvt Ltd. to provide the salary to the journalist, Ram Prasad Dahal whom he sacked illegally on March 2, 2005 from the Rajdhani national daily, restore him and inform the court about his restoration in the daily. freedom1 Forum concludes that the Rajdhani administration violated the rights of working journalist by not providing wage and restoring him in the daily as per the Court decision. freedom1 Forum had provided legal facilitation to journalist Dahal.
Freedom Forum is a prominent non-governmental organization in Nepal dedicated to institutionalizing democracy, protecting and promoting human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information, promoting audit accountability, open and accountable budget, public finance reforms, citizen engagement in public finance management and citizen participation in audit. Established in February 2005, the organization emerged in response to the political turmoil following Former King Gyanendra’s coup dated February 1, 2005, which imposed severe restrictions on media and democratic rights. A group of media professionals, legal experts, and academics founded Freedom Forum to safeguard Nepal’s hard-earned democratic freedoms during this repressive period.
