(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The following is a 4 August 2005 CEHURDES press release: Nepal government threatens to revoke licence of a private FM station Kathmandu, Aug. 4, 05 – One day prior to the expiry of six-month old restrictions on newspapers and independent FM radio stations, the Ministry of Information and Communications in Nepal has initiated […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The following is a 4 August 2005 CEHURDES press release:
Nepal government threatens to revoke licence of a private FM station
Kathmandu, Aug. 4, 05 – One day prior to the expiry of six-month old restrictions on newspapers and independent FM radio stations, the Ministry of Information and Communications in Nepal has initiated action against private radio station Nepal FM 91.8 MHz, accusing it of “violating” its order.
In a letter sent to Nepal FM, the ministry accused Rainbow FM Pvt. Ltd, which launched the station, of breaching the National Broadcasting Act.
The ministry said that the airing of news by Nepal FM on its daily programme “Rajdhani Khabar” (“News from the capital”) violated provisions of the broadcasting regulations. Rainbow FM has been asked to furnish a reply within a week.
The FM radio station broadcast news of King Gyanendra’s birthday on 7 July. Since then, the radio station has continued to broadcast “Rajdhani Khabar” focusing on social and development issues.
Insisting that Nepal FM has been challenging the government decree, the ministry in its notice asked why its operating license should not be scrapped on grounds of violating the regulation. The ministry also said it is “doing its homework” and is prepared to revoke the station’s licence within a week. Nepal FM says that its programmes do not fall under the popular definition of news programmes and that it will continue to broadcast “Rajdhani Khabar”.
The ban on the broadcasting of news has been in place since 1 February when King Gyanendra assumed total control of the government. The ban has rendered hundreds of radio journalists jobless while FM operators and media organisations have been protesting against the government decision, describing it as an attempt to muzzle the independent media.
CEHURDES and Press Freedom Grand Jury-Nepal strongly condemn the government’s threat to revoke the licence of Rainbow FM Pvt. Ltd. on fictitious grounds. We consider it as part of the government’s on-going design to muzzle the media and we urge the government to withdraw its unconstitutional threat immediately.
We recall that the ministry had sent a similar letter to Communications Corner Pvt. Ltd, one of the promoters of Nepal FM, a few weeks ago asking it to close down its operations immediately. The company was able to obtain a stay order from the Supreme Court against the government’s decision.
