Valley
Himal Southasian to suspend publication
The Southasia Trust on Wednesday announced that it is suspending publication of Himal Southasian after November this year.The Southasia Trust on Wednesday announced that it is suspending publication of Himal Southasian after November this year.
A decision to suspend publication “was taken by the Trust’s Executive Board on August 22 due to non-cooperation by regulatory state agencies in Nepal that has made it impossible to continue operations after 29 years of publication”, the Trust said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Reflecting the trend in other parts of South Asia in terms of independent media and civil society organisations, Himal is being silenced not by direct attack or overt censorship but the use of the arms of bureaucracy to paralyse its functioning,” read the statement. “Though Nepal has been a leader of free press since the introduction of democracy in 1990, continuous socio-political chaos over two decades has progressively weakened the commitment of the political class to open society.” The Trust has said it will continue to publish the magazine till November 2016 to meet all its outstanding obligations before suspension of operations.
“Grants meant for Himal were not approved for seven months without any notification, obtaining work permits for non-Nepali editorial staff became impossible, and there were unreasonable delays in processing payments for international contributors,” the statement added. “Our dwindling workforce tried to overcome these and other challenges and continued production in print despite repeated challenges over the past three years despite political attack in Parliament and escalating targeting of its Chairman and Himal’s founding editor Kanak Mani Dixit, but in the end suspension was the only option.”
The Trust has also said that Himal will resume publication when circumstances in Nepal (or elsewhere) make it possible.