More than 80 tattoo artists from all over the world, including Japan, Thailand, India, Australia, and UK participated in the three-day Nepal Tattoo Convention last week. This puts Kathmandu firmly on the world tattoo map, and is perhaps a reflection of the freedom of expression granted by the interim constitution.
However, on World Press Freedom Day on Saturday we may need to remind ourselves that despite constitutional guarantees, both democracy and press freedom face restrictions. At a time of prolonged political transition, when the three pillars of democracy are fragile, the media’s fourth pillar must help buttress the system. But the criminalisation of politics has encouraged self-censorship and the press is, willingly or unwittingly, allowing itself to be a part of state-sponsored witch-hunts.