In its 2010 World Press Freedom Index released worldwide on Wednesday, the France-based media rights body has placed Nepal on the 119th position in terms of press freedom.[break] It had placed Nepal on the 118th position in 2009. The Index, however, has not given any specific reason behind the deteriorating state of press freedom in Nepal.
The Index reveals that press freedom India and Thailand have also been challenged. Thailand (153rd) -- where two journalists were killed and some 15 wounded while covering the army crackdown on the ´red shirts´ movement in Bangkok -- lost 23 places, while India slipped to 122nd place from 105th position last year mainly due to extreme violence in Kashmir.
Likewise, Afganistan and Pakistan have been ranked 147th and 151st, respectively. According to the Index, Islamist groups bear much of the responsibility for their country´s pitifully low ranking. “Suicide bombings and abductions make working as a journalist an increasingly dangerous occupation in this area of South Asia,” states the report, adding: “And the state has not slackened its arrests of investigative journalists, which sometimes more closely resemble kidnappings.”
Though Sri Lanka jumped four places up as compared to last year due to less violence reported there, the media´s ability to challenge the authorities has weakened with dozens of journalists being exiled, according to the Press Freedom Index.
The Index has also painted a grim picture of press freedom in communist regimes of Asia. Asia´s four communist regimes, North Korea (177th), China (171st) and Vietnam (165th), and Laos (168th) are among the fifteen lowest-ranked countries in the 2010 World Press Freedom Index.
Laos, Rwanda, Yemen, China, Sudan, Syria, Burma, Iran, Turkeministan, North Korea and Eritrea have been ranked among 10 countries at the bottom of the index.
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