Referring to the recent coverage by one of the newspapers on the suicide case involving a student of Kamji Middle Secondary School, the Education Minister requested the Bhutanese media to play a more positive and creative role in the society.
Describing the coverage as sensationalism, Lyonpo Thakur Singh Powdyel said The Journalist, one of the private newspapers blamed the principal for the death of a class VII student who committed suicide in May. Lyonpo said the police have confirmed it as suicide.
Lyonpo said 25 days after the incident; two reporters from the newspapers entered the school campus without seeking anybody’s permission and began interrogating students and teachers on the attitude of the principal.
In addition, Lyonpo said the reporters have visited the house of the deceased and instigated his parents to report the case to the police for another investigation into the cause of his death. The Minister said second investigation was conducted which again confirmed the death as suicide.
The Education Minister said the two reporters have also instigated the students to misbehave. “Reporters visited the hostel, the dormitory there and they were not even properly dressed. One was in trousers and they went to the hostels and smoked in front of the boys and told them to behave like punks and also showed some actions as to what punks would look like and told the children that if in case there is any consequences for your behavior, for being indecent and misbehaved, tell us and they gave mobile phone numbers to the students.”
The Minister said the article has tainted the image of the school. Besides this, Lyonpo said the newspaper has labeled the principal as a terror. “The school has been insulted. The education community has been insulted. This is not what we deserve. That is why I would like to look upon the media fraternity as honourable Lyonchoen mentioned earlier on to also play a more positive, a more creative role,” said the Minister.
The Minister said the school has lodged a complaint with BICMA. The Minister also said he would like to see what kind of action the Journalists Association of Bhutan would take on this matter. Meanwhile, the Editor of The Journalists said whatever the Education Minister said is too vague to be true and that it is a serious allegation. The Editor also said the BICMA has asked the paper to respond to the complaint letter logged by the school and has responded accordingly.
