KATHMANDU , 7 June 2007 (IRIN) - For Dipendra Chauhan, working as a journalist in the country's most violent area, Nepal's southeastern Terai region, has become a dangerous job. He constantly receives death threats from armed political groups for not reporting in favour of their political views.

"There is mental torture every day for journalists in this region when we fail to report favourably on their political activities," journalist Chauhan told IRIN in the capital, Kathmandu.

Earlier this week, he received a death threat from the armed political group Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha-Jwala (JTMM-J), if he failed to broadcast positive news about them.

The JTMM-J is one of several radical groups supportive of greater autonomy for Nepal's largest ethnic group, the Madhesis, which is also a splinter group of the Maoists.

Madhesis make up over half the population of the Terai region and some claim they constitute 40-50 percent of Nepal's 27 million people.

Chauhan works as the news chief for a prominent radio station, Radio Birgunj, in Parsa District, nearly 200km south of the capital.

"Journalists have started to feel very insecure and are undergoing psychological problems due to increasing fear of these groups," explained Chauhan who was threatened on the phone by JTMM-J's senior leader Ashish Singh.

"Intimidation"

The peace agreement in November 2006 ended the decade-long armed conflict between the Maoists and the royalist Nepalese government, both of whom had constantly cracked down on the media, according to the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), which said the situation had not improved.

"We find that even the most respected top leaders of these [rebel] groups are disrespectful towards Nepal's independent media," said FNJ's vice-president, Shiva Gaule, in Kathmandu. He explained that journalists are constantly harassed, attacked and victimised by political groups "who believe in the power of guns and intimidation".

Reporters Without Borders

In less than six months, a large number of rebel groups have emerged and at least nine armed groups are active and do not hesitate to resort to violence, said a report by international media watchdog Reporters Without Frontiers (RSF) on 7 June.

RSF said over 72 journalists had been attacked or threatened by groups that use violence against the media and the civilian population.

"This is alarming," said the RSF report, adding that armed militants were harassing journalists with the aim of silencing them or turning them into propagandists.

"The authorities, especially the interior and information ministries, must do everything possible to put an end to this climate of open hostility. The government has a duty to ensure that the press is able to work, especially in the run-up to elections," said the RSF report.

Madhesi ethnic group

According to FNJ, the most dangerous groups are those associated with the indigenous Madhesi people who feel they have been neglected by the central government in terms of development and the decision-making issues.

Amongst the pro-Madhesi groups are the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF), Madhesi Tiger Nepal (MTN), JTMM-J and JTMM-G (Goit), in addition to the Maoist-affiliated Youth Communist League (YCF).

MPRF has been seen as the group most hostile towards journalists who frequently get attacked when covering their strikes and mass protest rallies, the FNJ said.

RSF also said the MPRF alone has been responsible for at least 16 threats, or incidents of violence, against journalists since the start of the year. MTN threatened all journalists in March.

"We are all united and ready to rescue any journalist at risk of death or injury from any group," explained Gaule whose FNJ has successfully put pressure on many of these groups: Recently their leaders apologised to journalists that had been harassed.

Victimised journalists are, however less concerned about the leaders than the wider membership which continues to make them fearful.

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