An Indian Embassy official in Nepal was drawn into controversy on Saturday after allegedly threatening a veteran journalist of a local newspaper.
According to a statement issued by the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), spokesman at the Indian Embassy Abhaya Kumar threatened Yubaraj Ghimire, editor-in-chief of the Annapurna Post over the phone concerning a reporting in the newspaper.
The FNJ, the umbrella organization of Nepali journalists, slammed the unruly behavior of the Indian diplomat as “a breach of diplomatic etiquette.”
“The Indian official’s behavior is against the spirit of freedom of speech and expression,” the FNJ said. Nepali journalists have demanded the Nepal government and concerned agencies initiate a probe into the incident.
Ghimire has been working in Nepali media over the past 20 years.
Indian diplomats in Nepal have been under fire in recent years. In October 2010, an official at the Indian Embassy was accused of threatening to abduct Nepal’s lawmaker Ram Kumar Sharma.