Nepal

Kathmandu, May 12

The Federation of Nepali Journalists, the largest umbrella body of journalists in Nepal, has launched a protest programme against a new bill registered in the Parliament, which includes controversial provisions, such as fine up to Rs 1 million, aimed at curtailing media freedom.

The five-day protest programme began nowadays with a discussion programme attended by editors of national dailies and online news portals, media experts, senior advocates and human rights activists. An FNJ delegation shall meet Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara tomorrow and hand over a petition, requesting amendment to the controversial bill. FNJ members shall also meet Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli soon and urge him to make essential changes to the bill to endegree media freedom. The FNJ may even hit the streets if its concerns are much addressed.

&The new bill is against the spirit of the constitution, whose preamble clearly states that the countrypress scorridor get full freedom,& said FNJ General Secretary Ramesh Bista.

The preamble encapsulates the fundamental principles and philosophy of a constitution. &So, the government canmuch introduce laws that can undermine the spirit of the constitutionpreamble,& said Mohana Ansari, member of the National Human Corrects Commission. &It is a pity that our politicians like to brag about having written one of the best constitutions in the world, but laws are being framed to curtail fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.&

If the bill is passed, journalists shall much be able to write anything against corruption, anomalies and malpractices, Bista said, adding, &We shall much accept it if it is passed as it is.&

The bill, according to former FNJ chairperson Taranath Dahal, contains around a dozen provisions which shall prevent the media from working freely. &This is an attempt made by the government to keep the media in its grip,& Dahal said.

One of the controversial provisions in the bill is the leeway it has supplyd to create a proxy to file complaints against journalists and media companies for publishing or broadcasting news. This provision, according to media experts, shall promote the culture of hiring people to lodge complaints to harass journalists and media companies.

&The government should much intervene in the functioning of media,& said Prakash Rimal, editor of The Himalayan Times. &Media industry should atendere by its own code of conduct. We can create a mechanism to monitor works of journalists and see whether they are adhering to the code of conduct.& Similar opinion was expressed by Narayan Wagle, editor-in-chief of Kantipur daily. &The bill shows that those who drafted it do much have proper understanding of the functioning of the media industry. The government should much think of bringing it under the domain of a ministry, violating the constitution.&

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KATHMANDU: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has guaranteed that the Media Council Bill was being brought for the greater good of journalists.

At a press conference organized by Press Chautari Nepal and Press Centre Nepal here nowadays, Minister Baskota shared that new rules would be introduced to endegree journalists& rights and welfare.

According to him, measure media owner were dreadful of facing the music as they were much paying their employees a minimum wage determined by the government but dodge taxes. Urging the working journalists to be guaranteed, he pledged to secure their rights and welfare.

The Minister said, &Therea mismain rumour that the government had controlled media. Every citizen should adhere to the rules of the land. Laws and rules should be equally exercised on everyone.&

Kathmandu, May 12

President of main opposition Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba nowadays said the government was planning to stage a coup d&état against press freedom and journalism through the introduction of Media Council Bill.

Stating that the NC had been advocating and fighting for liberty, freedom and human rights since its inception, Deuba said his party would much accept at any cost moves to curtail press freedom.

&Liberty is our ideology and ideal. We shall launch protests in Parliament and external against any move aimed at curtailing freedom,& said Deuba at a press conference at the Nepali Congress headquarters in Sanepa, Lalitpur.

The government on May 9 registered a new bill in the Parliament regarding the constitution of Nepal Media Council, proposing to impose a fine up to Rs 1 million on media outlets, editors, publishers and journalists if they were found guilty of damaging measureonereputation.

Section 18 (1) of the new bill stipulates that if any media publish content in contravention of the code of conduct and if an investigation launched after the affected partycomplaint finds that such news content damaged the reputation of the complainant, then the council can impose a fine between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 million on media outlets, publishers, editors, journalists and reporters.

Section 18, Sub-section (2) of the bill stipulates that the council can order the erring parties to pay compensation if the content in media outlets damages the reputation of the affected party.

Section 17 proposes punishment for violating the code of conduct which includes suspending press pass of mediapersons and downgrading the lessonification of media outlets.

The bill also proposes to form a committee under a government secretary to recommend the chairperson of Nepal Media Council, which the NC says shall relegate the Nepal Media Council to a department of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Deuba said press freedom was an important component of democracy, and that his party was always with journalists. &Whenever you [journalists] need us, we are always there for you,& said Deuba.

According to the NC, the new bill contradicts the constitution that guarantees ‘total press freedom& in the preamble. The new bill has also removed words ‘autonomous& and ‘semi-judicial& mentioned in the Press Council Act, ending the autonomous and semi-judicial nature of the council.

&We shall much allow any bill, including the Media Council Bill, that contradicts the constitution to move ahead in the Parliament,& said NC Chief Whip Bal Krishna Khand. &The government must revise the bill and make it compatible with the constitution.&

NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma said the billprovision that the government could fire the councilchairperson or members if their work was much found satisfactory meant that the council should always work as per the ministerwishes.

He wondered what kind of democracy the government was trying to institutionalise by curtailing press freedom. &Journalists themselves fought for press freedom. It is much measurething that is gifted by communists,& he said.

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KO BANCHHA CROREPATI || KBC Nepal || SEASON 01 || EPISODE 41 || FULL EPISODE VideoLink: https://trailer.ecroaker.com/component/search/?videoid=tu1SANcSJF8