The Center for Media Research- Nepal (CMR-Nepal) and Cartoonists’ Club – Nepal (CCN) jointly organized a virtual discussion on the role of cartoons to enhance good governance and accountability in Nepal.
In the discussion, former President of Transparency International Nepal, Bharat Bahadur Thapa provided the background on how corruption and good governance are perceived in the context of Nepal.
Thapa highlighted the role of media, especially the cartoons that could further bring the issue into public discourse. He pointed out that the rise in corruption was the result of loopholes in the laws, over-politicization, unstable government, and desire for more in the government institutions.
Presenting a paper on ‘Understanding Corruption: Cartoons in Nepali Media’, Hari Bahadur Thapa, author of books on corruption and editor of eKagaj.com, said that the role of the state was vital to stop corruption but emphasized that those in power need to be accountable and not protect the corrupts.
Journalist Thapa pointed out that cartoons are a powerful medium in Nepal’s context on the issues on corruption and politics. The role of cartoonists to aware the general public on good governance and corruption is unabated, he added.
CCN President Basu Kshitiz emphasized that cartoons are an independent genre and that cartoons symbolically expose wrong tendencies.
Senior cartoonist Abin Shrestha said that the cartoonists have brought the policy and behavioral corruption into the public domain through cartoons and added that they are aware of the factual misrepresentation.
