Nepalese radio stations use creative ways to oppose government

The Nepali Times reports that FM radio owners have intensified their nationwide protest program following the order against the government by the Supreme Court for closing down the radio syndication service, Communication Corner.

Yesterday evening at 8PM local time, FM stations throughout the country were planning to defy the government ban on news coverage and simultaneously broadcast news of King Gyanendra’s departure for Doha.

Other measures used by the stations have included broadcasting silence, blowing of conch shells and reading the news through loudspeakers in the main squares of all major towns.

There are nearly 60 non-government radio stations in Nepal and many are on the verge of bankruptcy because of a fall in ad revenues.

Raghu Mainali of Save the Independent Radio Movement told the Nepali Times: "We need press freedom not just for ourselves, it is the citizen’s right to information that is being violated." Sundar Mani Dixit of the Citizen’s Committee for Peace and Development said "The curbs on the media have made a mockery of the claims this government makes about its commitment to restore democracy."

Source: Radio Netherlands

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