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The Government Gags Radios and publications

Kathmandu, 18 January

The Development and Communication Committee of Parliament has summoned government officials to a hearing to have them explain the rationale behind the recent decision to ban news and current affairs programming on independent FM radios.

Member of the main opposition Raghuji Pant told Nepali Times that the government decision was a serious attack on press freedom and that the parliamentary committee would make every effort to reverse the decision. "The decision is a reminder of the previous regime where zonal commissioners used similar means to gag the press," said Pant. "We’ll make every effort to see
that the government pulls back."

The Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) took the decision 2 January saying all it was doing was enforcing conditions that stations had agreed to while obtaining their broadcasting licenses. Independent FM stations have not commented on the ban: some have stopped current affairs programming while others have continued to broadcast their regular
current affairs programmes.

Nepal is a public radio pioneer in South Asia. It was the first country to allow community radio stations in 1997 when Radio Sagarmatha went on air in Kathmandu. Nepal has also been more liberal than others in the region in allowing private FM broadcasters. The deregulation increased credibility and professionalism of radio, made the medium interactive and citizens more aware of news and trends.

A clause in the FM license disallows news broadcasts, but the government claims private FM stations were circumventing it by reading a selection of daily newspapers without checking facts. Lawyers, however, said even the license clause is questionable because the Broadcast Act does not specifically ban news. Instead a clause in it says that news when broadcast
should be edited and produced fairly and impartially.

Sources at the ministry said the decision was taken by journalist-turned-minister Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta himself in the aftermath of the street riots of 26-27 December. Some FM stations were blamed for inciting tensions by broadcasting jingoistic reports and songs. The government move comes at a time when Gupta himself has been under fire from the media for demanding an apology from the Indian actor Hrithik Roshan for rumoured comments about Nepal that incited
the violence, but which were later proved to be false.

In early August, Minister Gupta had attempted to change a rule relating to the print media but was forced to withdraw after the parliamentary committee rejected the government proposal. The government had planned to force newspapers to renew registrations annually, which the press said would give government a ploy to silence opposition media.

Bharat Koirala, the one Nepali who has been engaged in a crusade to promote community radio and campaigned five years to get Radio Sagarmatha its license, is not happy with the decision. "It’s not right," he said. "FM stations were helping create a free, independent and pluralistic media, and promoting public debate in our democracy."

The distinctive and popular voice of Radio Sagarmatha, which relied heavily on its own news andanalysis, has been worst hit. The station had popular talk shows, news programmes, panel discussions and phone-ins. The station is run by a group of environmental journalists and was already under pressure from the Ministry, which hadn’t renewed its license.

Sri Ram Poudel, Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communication, denies that this is an attempt to gag radio. "This is not censorship. We are only trying to make news more factual," he said.