In the history of Nepali journalism, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists has finally got a female leadership. Women have already taken leadership in other parts of the state.
Although women have not had the chance to become president in America, women have become presidents, women chief justices and women speakers in Nepal. In that sense, Nepali women can feel proud. Nirmala Sharma, who was elected as the central president of the Federation of Journalists in the recently concluded elections, has added another brick to that proud history. In that sense, she deserves congratulations.
She did not become the president of the federation just because she was a woman. She also had the qualifications, which made her stand out from the competing candidates and she won. Another major reason for his victory is the support of the ruling parties. Although this is the main reason for the victory, the partisan impression is definitely not appropriate for a professional journalist. A party stamp on a journalist means that he cannot be impartial, the message goes that impartiality cannot be expected in his news and articles.
Journalists with partisan affiliations, no matter how impartially they report, always remain suspect. In order to win the trust of readers and people, journalists and journalists' organizations should always remain independent. If the shadow of the party falls on the journalist federation, bar association, judicial body, police administration, constitutional body, which should be independent, the trust of the people towards that institution will gradually decrease.
To win public trust, journalists and journalists' federations must be freed from the shadow of the party. If an able journalist like Sharma had become an independent candidate instead of taking the support of press circles and press unions close to the ruling party to win the election, his stature would have been higher.
– Gopal Devkota, Jorpati, Kathmandu
