A video has been circulating on social media since Sunday afternoon. It appears that there was a dispute between journalist Aishwarya Kunwar and ward chairman of Bhimdatta Municipality-18 in Kanchanpur, Ravindra Devkota. In the video, journalist Kunwar is seen punching ward chairman Devkota.

In the 9-minute and 11-second video posted by journalist Kunwar's account at 5:53 am on Sunday, it is seen that they had an argument for some time and later reached a point of fighting.

There have been various comments on the network regarding the video. Ramkrishna Adhikari, central treasurer of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, has said that being a journalist does not give anyone the right to be above the law and this bad trend must be confronted.

'Being a journalist does not give anyone the right to be above the law. A journalist's identity card cannot become a license to create chaos and commit crimes.' "With the two incidents that have taken place in the last 4 days (in Kanchanpur and Kathmandu), we (Federation of Nepali Journalists) should now be ready to operate within our own homes," he wrote on the social media platform Facebook. "If we cannot be ruthless towards the evil within our own homes, the moral basis for protecting the dignity of journalism from outside will weaken. The reputation of thousands of honest journalists should not be tarnished because of one or two lawless individuals. Action is needed now, not warnings."

Similarly, journalist Madhav Prasad Tiwari wrote, "This cannot be journalism. The Federation of Nepali Journalists and Press Council Nepal should immediately investigate and take action against journalist Aishwarya Kunwar, who created a dispute with ward chair Rabindra Devkota after going to a drug training program being conducted at the Sweet Dream Hotel in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur. Should journalists write news or create a dispute and beat up public representatives? Which law gives journalists the right to force and assault a public representative participating in a program to leave? There is no problem even if the police take direct action in this. Such a style transforms journalism into hooliganism. Let's be aware in time.'

What is the reality of the incident?
Bhimdatta Municipality-18 was conducting a capacity building program on Sunday for children affiliated with the Sunaulo Bhavishya Children's Club. The program, which is part of the annual plan of the ward office, was being conducted by the ward office at the Hotel Sweet Dream in Mahendranagar as a three-day workshop on personality development for the Sunaulo Bhavishya Children's Club.

The training had a schedule of sessions on cybercrime and security, drug addiction, technology addiction, personality development, leadership development, yoga, meditation, knowledge of the Gita, child rights, communication skills, etc.

The incident took place on the second day of the program, Sunday. According to Ward Secretary Dinesh Raj Bhatta, the session after lunch was on drug abuse. Senior Deputy Inspector Chetraj Pant of the District Police Office was facilitating. Although the program was supposed to be held at the ward office, due to the extreme heat, the program was held at the hotel Sweet Dream in Mahendranagar after it was provided free of charge.

Senior Deputy Inspector Pant was facilitating the children on drug addiction when journalist Kunwar suddenly entered the hall. According to Secretary Bhatta, no journalist was invited to the program. But after entering the hall, journalist Kunwar took photos and videos for a while.

Then she asked Chairman Devkota to give her feedback on the program. But Chairman Devkota said that he would give his feedback in a while as classes were currently being conducted and asked her to sit down. But Kunwar immediately came out and started pressuring him to respond. In the process, an argument started between them. During the argument and altercation, Kunwar punched and kicked Ward Chairperson Devkota.

What does the ward chairperson say?
Chairman Devkota said that Kunwar had called the previous day and inquired about the road. Stating that he had requested to talk to the contractor concerned about the matter, he said that he did not have the contractor's number and that if there was any deficiency in the work, he had asked him to complain to the concerned body.

According to Senior Sub-Inspector Panta, who was facilitating the incident, it seemed that journalist Kunwar had been prejudiced against the chairperson since the previous day. 'I was facilitating the class, he entered the program hall directly and started arguing with the chairperson.' An argument ensued. The chairman was also punched,’ Panta said, ‘The class became tense . The children were also scared . The police took him into custody after the incident seemed to be escalating .’

What do the police say ?
Chairman Devkota said that a case of indecent behavior had been filed at the District Police Office . The police had arrested Kunwar from the spot . SP Netramani Giri of the District Police Office, Kanchanpur, said that the incident is being investigated. ‘An investigation is underway, and it seems that the ward chairman was mistreated,’ he said, ‘We can only say something after the investigation .’

Journalist Kunwar had been in controversy several times before . She was also detained by the police for almost a week in 2080 Magh .  

What does the Federation of Nepali Journalists say ? 
After the incident came out on social media, there has been widespread protest against the journalist's assault on a public representative. There has been criticism from all sectors that journalists should follow the code of conduct and exercise restraint. Journalists have also given various reactions to the incident.

Nirmala Sharma, the central president of the Nepali Journalists' Federation, argued that such incidents should be discouraged, saying that this is against the code of conduct of journalism. 'If it was an issue, it would have been reported.' But it is not the job of a journalist to go and abuse and assault like this,' said President Sharma. 'Even the police cannot do such a thing.'

According to President Sharma, the district is investigating the incident and will take action as needed. 'The Press Council will also conduct a self-monitoring. Our district branch is also investigating what the specific incident is. We will do what needs to be done as needed.'