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Media ordinance continues to draw fire

Journalists and law experts have said the recently promulgated ordinance that imposed fresh curbs on independent media is also aimed at controlling the political freedom.

Speaking at a discussion program on “Media Ordinance, Purpose and Its Effect,” organised by Nepal Journalism Students Association (NJSA) in the capital on Friday, they said the new press law goes completely against the spirit of the constitution of 1990 and that the intention of the royal administration is to control the activities of the political parties.

“The government has issued the media ordinance to control the activities of political parties in the context of the imminent municipal elections,” said Bhimarjun Acharya, a constitution expert and the president of Constitutional Lawyers’ Forum (CLAF).

Regarding the ban on newscasts in FM radios, he argued that there is no mention about “FM radio” as such in the ordinance.

Media expert Ram Krishna Regmi pointed out that the media ordinance has brought darkness in the field of media sector. He further added that the ordinance is completely anti-democracy.

Another speaker, spokesman of Save Independent Radio Movement, Ghama Raj Luintel, said the ordinance not only aims to control the media but also the basic democratic rights exercised by the citizens.

President of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Bishnu Nisthuri, said the media ordinance has ruined whatever is left of country’s democratic glory of the past 15 years. He termed the midnight raid by the government’s security forces in control of Kantipur FM as plain ‘robbery’.

Addressing to the program, NJSA president Rajan Bhattarai said the ordinance has been a setback for journalism and mass communication sectors. “Students of journalism must stand against this wrong step of the government,” said he. nepalnews.com sg Oct 29 05