Nepal: Media Under Siege

KATHMANDU, Oct. 17: The Ordinance to amend some provisions of the Communication Act is based on the draft act formed by a parliamentary sub-committee five years ago with the involvement of all the political parties, Federation of Nepalese Journalists and others related sectors. Speaking at a programme of the Reporter’s Club on Monday former member of the National Council Ashok Tiwari said that the...

A fresh spat has erupted between India and Nepal with a minister here taking exception to a statement issued by New Delhi on fresh media curbs in the Himalayan kingdom. Radhakrishna Mainali, the minister for sports an education who was nominated by King Gyanendra after the monarch grabbed power earlier this year, came down heavily on India's ministry of external affairs, saying it was "nakedly...

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - Education Minister Radha Krishna Mainali on Saturday criticized the Indian government's statement against the newly introduced Press Ordinance. "Indian government should not intervene in the internal matters of Nepal," he said, while speaking at the Reporters' Club Nepal. "It should not be India's concern what the Nepal government does." He also criticized the recent visit of...

Kathmandu, Oct. 15: Some people always tend to look at the darker side of everything, and this has also happened in the newly announced ordinance to amend some provisions of the Communication Act. There is no denying that the press should be free, fair and responsible. But even those who advocate for unbridled freedom agree that accountability has been the weakest point of journalism in Nepal. It...

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday expressed the hope that the new anti-press ordinance promulgated by King Gyanendra in Nepal would not be used to curb media freedom. "We have always believed that a free and independent press is necessary for the people to enjoy their fundamental rights and democratic freedoms,'' the External Affairs Ministry said here. "Curbs on the freedom of expression and the media...

KATHMANDU, Oct 14 - Media rights groups and India have strongly criticized the government for introducing the Press Ordinance to curb the rights of the free press and impose restrictions on it. The spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that it believed that a free and independent press is necessary for the people to enjoy their fundamental rights and democratic...

KATHMANDU, Oct 14 - Senior journalists and former presidents of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) on Friday suggested the FNJ to launch a three-tier protest program simultaneously, against the new media ordinance. Speaking at an interaction organized by the FNJ to discuss future strategy against the ordinance promulgated on Sunday to clamp down on independent media, the senior...

Reporters Without Borders today roundly condemned a government ordinance issued at King Gyanendra’s behest on 9 October that imposes drastic new curbs on the Nepalese news media. The ordinance bans all news broadcasts, criminalizes all press offences, imposes a ten-fold increase in fines for press law violations, and forbids the news media to cover "subjects that could have negative effects for...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organisation representing more than 500,000 journalists in over 110 countries, is alarmed at the King’s decision to dramatically change media laws in Nepal. On October 9, King Gyanendra announced changes to media law that would come into force immediately, limiting media licences, banning the broadcast of news on radio and prohibiting a...

Only two days after Nepal's monarch Gyanendra promulgated a draconian media ordinance Sunday banning news broadcasts on FM stations throughout the country, Nepal's FM stations continue to air news and are vowing to fight the "black ordinance" in the streets and the courts. "We are continuing with our news broadcasts," said Ghamaraj Luintel, spokesperson of Nepal's Save Independent Radio Movement...