Nepal on Thursday stops the broadcasting of all Indian private news channels except Doordarshan.
Amid tension between Nepal and India cable operators in Nepal have banned news channels.The tension was since Nepal police shot Indian farmer of Sitamarhi, Bihar and also due to land dispute.
We have stopped the distribution of all Indian news channels except Doordarshan. We have halted distribution of India’s private news channels as they have aired news reports hurting Nepal’s national sentiment,” Dinesh Subedi, the chairman of Multi-System Operator (MSO), foreign channel distributor said.
“News stories and comments coming from the Indian media against the government and Prime Minister of Nepal are highly objectionable”, Bishnu Ramal, chief advisor to PM KP Sharma Oli, said.
“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,” said Minister of Communication and Information Technology Yubaraj Khatiwada.He said in response to a question about certain Indian channels airing objectionable content on Prime Minister Oli and the Ambassador of China Hou Yanqi.
“There is an open race to remove me from the post. Nepal’s nationality is not weak. No one thought that a prime minister would be removed from office for printing a map,” KP Sharma Oli said.