The cine artists staging peaceful struggle for about a month at the Film Development Board- a state agency to oversee the film- have been further angered and agitated after the government's decision to appoint Dharmendra Kumar Marbaita popularly known as Pappu as the Chairman of the Board. Pappu is a cadre of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Republic) headed by the Minister for Information and Communication. Artistes have been demanding to immediately cancel the decision and appoint a related expert who knows well the problems of Nepal's film industry and takes initiative for the solution of the problem. freedom1 Forum condemns the government decision to appoint Pappu because it the government's highhandedness and a move to control the Board which needs to be autonomous. Appointment of a political cadre is the politicization of the state agency which is in need of autonomy. Moreover, Pappu is an inexperienced person in the film sector. Therefore, freedom1 Forum expresses solidarity to the views and protests of the cine artists who have been demanding a clean and expert in the chairmanship of the Board. The government must address the genuine demands of the cine artists for the independence of the Board. For weeks, the film producers and cine artists have been staging peaceful protest with various demands as autonomy of the Board, appointment of film experts in the Board, cancellation of censor on film or setting a code for this, formulation of the working cine artists' act, establishment of box office framework and classification of the film halls.
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.
