Kanak Mani Dixit

Kanak Mani Dixit (born January 27, 1956) is a Nepali publisher, editor and writer. He is the founder of the magazine Himal Southasian and cofounder of Himalmedia.

Life

Dixit was born in Lalitpur. He studied at the Tri Chandra College in Kathmandu and obtained there his Bachelor of Arts in 1975. He studied at the University of Delhi, where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws. Afterwards he studied at the Columbia University, where he obtained two Master's degrees, one in 1981 in international relations and one year later one in Journalism.[1]

He worked for eight years from 1982 until 1990 at the secretariat of the United Nations in New York City. In 1987, he founded the bimonthly magazine Himal which subsequently became Himal Southasian. He is also the author of several children's books and the founder of Film South Asia (FSA), a film festival for documentary films.[1][2] He also works in spinal injury rehabilitation,[3] public transportation,[4] archiving,[5] and architectural and environmental preservation.[6] He was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands in 2009.[2]

Controversy

In August 2013, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal awarded NOK 3892000 (NRs 60 Million) to The Southasia Trust, where Kanak Mani Dixit is an Executive Director, to use “Media to Promote Regional Peace and Development”.[7] Maoist lawmaker Shakti Basnet accused Mr. Dixit of misusing granted fund to campaign against the ongoing peace process and using funds without accountability,[8] triggering a debate on the support of foreign diplomatic missions for Nepali media.[9][10] Dixit refuted the accusations, claiming that the Maoist lawmaker in question was misusing his parliamentary platform in order to damage his credibility through personal targeting.[11]

A team of police deployed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on April 22, 2016 took journalist Kanak Mani Dixit into custody. Around 20 police personnel including those in civvies held him from Patan Dhoka in Lalitpur district. In a statement on Friday, the CIAA said Dixit was arrested according to CIAA Act 2048 (1991) Section 19.1 (c) for his defiance and non-cooperation in its investigation despite repeated notice to appear before the commission.The anti-graft body said the property details submitted by Dixit on Jan 24, 2016, didn’t match with the various documents provided by various concerned bodies after its enquiry. The CIAA said it has been investigating complaints against Dixit that he illegally transferred the property owned by deceased Lt.-Gen.Madan Shumsher JBR and his wife Jagadamba Kumari Devi to his name by abusing his public post.[12]

Kanak Mani Dixit had publicly opposed the appointment of Lok Man Singh Karki to the head of the CIAA in 2013 on the grounds that Mr. Karki had been indicted by the Rayamajhi Commission for the suppression of the People's Movement of 2006[13] Numerous journalists from a variety of publications and political leanings have pointed out that Dixit's arrest is a clear case of vendetta by Lok Man Singh Karki.[14][15][16][17][18]

Arrest

On 22 April 2016, the Commission of Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) ordered the arrest of Mr Kanak Mani Dixit.[19] “Kanak Mani Dixit's arrest is a worrying development and a setback for freedom of expression in Nepal”, said Evelyn Balais-Serrano, Executive Director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development. “The manner and timing of his arrest seems to indicate this is a case of personal vendetta and intimidation tactics.”[20] The International Federation of Journalists said: “The arrest of Kanak Mani Dixit raises serious concerns for the state of freedom of expression in Nepal. The circumstances of Dixit's arrest are questionable, raising questions about proper judicial procedure. The IFJ urges the Government of Nepal to immediately release Dixit and conduct a transparent investigation into the arrest and the CIAA's allegations.”[21] Prominent journalists, activists and scholars from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the US, Australia, the UK and Sri Lanka, urged the Nepal government to release well-known journalist Kanak Mani Dixit.[22][23] Journalist William Nicholas Gomes joined a group of prominent journalist and activists calling the immediate release of Kanak Mani Dixit, and he also wrote to Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Home Minister of Nepal, Ministry of Home Affairs, condemning the detention of Dixit and asked to release him.[19][22]

See Also

References

  1. 1 2 "Microsoft Word - Biodata of Kanak Mani Dixit_new_.doc" (PDF). Motomo-nepal.ch. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  2. 1 2
  3. ↑ "Board Members | Hacked By Jokr Haxor - 3xp1r3 Cyber Army". Sirc.org.np. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  4. ↑ "साझा यातायातमा स्वागत छ". Sajhayatayat.com.np. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  5. ↑ "Kanak Mani Dixit". Soas.ac.uk. 2015-04-22. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  6. ↑ "KVPT Restoring Heritage | NewSpotLight Nepal News Magazine". Spotlightnepal.com. 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  7. ↑ "GRANT LETTER FOR 13/0015 - Using media to promote regional peace and development]" (PDF). Norway, the Official site in Nepal. 22 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Donor funds used without accountability: Lawmakers]". The Kantipur Online. 14 April 2014. The trust, which has been granted Rs 60 million by Royal Norwegian Embassy, has misused the fund to campaign against the ongoing peace process and has misused the funds in his disposal without accountability, said Nepali Congress and Maoist lawmakers. They have demanded that the government investigate the case. "There has been regular anti-peace activities through the Trust fund which should be investigated," Maoist lawmaker Shakti Basnet said in parliament.
  9. ↑ "मिडियामा विदेशी लगानीको प्रश्न]]". Kantipur Daily. 20 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "विदेशी दूतावासको पैसामा पत्रिका निकाल्न पाइन्छ?]]". My Sansar. 19 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "UCPN (Maoist) stalls house proceedings yet again]]". República English Daily. 17 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Journo Kanak Mani Dixit in CIAA custody]]". Kantipur English Daily. 22 April 2016.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ "Shades of fear and revenge". Setopati.net. 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  15. ↑ "Newslaundry". Newslaundry.com. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  16. ↑ Pramod Mishra. "Prosecution versus persecution". Kathmandupost.ekantipur.com. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  17. ↑ "The Brief » Blog Archive » Suspicious action". Nepali Times. 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  18. ↑ Bidushi Dhungel. "Lok in the time of Loktantra | One To Many". Nepali Times. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  19. 1 2 William Nicholas Gomes (2016-04-29). "Detention of human rights defender Kanak Mani Dixit". Newsghana.com.gh. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  20. ↑ "Nepal: Release journalist Kanak Mani Dixit immediately « FORUM-ASIA". Forum-asia.org. 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  21. ↑ "Senior journalist detained in Nepal on corruption allegations". Ifj.org. 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  22. 1 2 William Nicholas Gomes (2016-04-29). "Journalists, activists seek release of Himal Editor Kanak Mani Dixit". Newsghana.com.gh. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  23. ↑ "Journalists, activists seek release of Nepalese editor Kanak Dixit". The Hindu. 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
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