C. K. Lal

In an essay titled "Wall of words" published in Himal Southasian's December 2010 issue, he broaches pertinent issues on the freedom of speech in India, taking into account the prominent controversy that flared up when Arundhati Roy, an activist from India, decided to speak up her conscience. He writes:

Lal wrote bi-weekly column Fourth Estate in Nepali Times starting January 2010 until October 2010. The column's themes related to journalism, media coverage of events, international trends in reporting and analysis, advertising aspect of media, relation of the Fourth Estate with the state and the public, and so forth.

Lal has written weekly columns in The Nepali Times (where he wrote for "State Of The State", and later "Fourth Estate", beginning in 2000, the year of its inception, to 2010), as well as for his columns in daily newspapers Republica and Nagarik. He also wrote for Himal South Asian, a monthly magazine about the Southasian affairs.

His first column in the Demo Issue (Issue #00, July 2000) of Nepali Times, a weekly newspaper in Nepal, in which he wrote for ten years, was titled "Elusive Peace." In it, he writes: "Keeping the peace is expensive business. In a country where half the people live below the official poverty line, Rs. 6 billion will be used this fiscal year to police the population." The article argues critical remarks on then most pressing issue of containing Maoists' mayhem that the onus of keeping peace is upon then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. At that time, Maoists were already waging an insurgency and growing as a political force.

Lal is widely cited and discussed in the Nepali academia for his insight on the politics, history, geography and culture in both domestic as well as international affairs. He has been writing regularly since the 1990s and is considered one of the most prolific writers in Nepal.

Chandra Kishor Lal, popularly known as C. K. Lal (Nepali: सीके लाल, born 1956) is a Nepalese journalist, political columnist, and engineer. He is mostly known for his columns in daily newspapers in Nepal and India, his frequent participation in academic circles, and his 2010 play Sapanako Sabiti, which premiered in Gurukul. His book Human Rights, Democracy and Governance was published in early 2010 by Pearson, New Delhi. He is also known for his book To Be A Nepalese, published in 2012 by Martin Chautari, Kathmandu. The book was originally published as Nepaliya Hunalai. He is also co-editor of the volume Chapama Dalit published by Ekta Books, Kathmandu (2001).