After bringing amendments to it’s political map and modifying the citizenship act, the Nepal government under Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli took another step leading to blackout all Indian news channels except Doordarshan making the ongoing situations even more tensed.
The action came after a senior minister said, “ Nepal will not allow foreign TV channels that indulge in the character assassinations of its leaders and will seek legal remedies against such news outlets.”
The minister of Communication and Information Technology, Yubaraj Khatiwada in a response to questions regarding certain Indian news channels added, “ We do not want to interfere in affairs of the media. Not just foreign but even domestic TV channels will be regulated if they are found to be airing offensive content or are indulging in character assassination [of Nepalese citizens and leaders] and are found to be disrespectful of Nepal’s sovereignty. Nepal will also seek political and legal remedies against such channels.”
Sources informed that the order of blacking out the news channels came after Nepal’s Ambassador to India, Nilambar Acharya complained to the Ministry of External Affairs on the coverage of Nepal’s leadership on Thursday. Several other prominent Nepali leaders have shown disagreement over Indian media outlets for airing comments that were offensive in nature. PM Oli’s top adviser, Bishnu Rimal remarked, “ The news stories and comments coming from the Indian media against the Government and Prime Minister of Nepal are highly objectionable thus condemnable. The malicious intent inherent in such reports will only damage the age-old friendly ties existing between our two countries and peoples.”
Following this, another top adviser of Mr. Oli, Rajan Bhattarai came forward and urged Indian media to “respect Nepali government and people’s unified position on Nepal’s sovereignty and national independence.”
In situ the major Indian news channels have been stopped airing in Nepal, a prominent decision is yet to be taken as more official statements are expected regarding the same.
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