----- Original Message -----
From: Partha <partha@bytesforall.org>
To: <bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com>;
<APC.forum@lists.apc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:05 PM
Subject: [APC Forum] Banned Nepal radio hits the street
> Banned Nepal radio hits the street
>
> KATMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) -- Banned from broadcasting
news since
> February's royal coup, Nepali radio reporters have
found a new way to
> get their bulletins out: loudspeaker.
>
> Every evening, about 300 people gather on a roadside
in Biratnagar,
> 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of Katmandu to listen
to Keshav
> Bhattarai read out the news from an open air studio on
the roof of a
> narrow, three-story building.
>
> As well as spreading the news, the service stands for
a free media,
> Bhattarai tells his audience, a motley collection of
politicians,
> teachers, students, traders and anyone who just
happens to be passing.
>
> Nepal's dozens of independent FM stations -- wildly
popular as the
> only alternative on the air to state radio's staid and
vetted
> bulletins -- were banned from broadcasting news when
King Gyanendra
> fired the government and imposed strict censorship on
February 1.
>
> Some restrictions have been eased, but the FM stations
that reach most
> of the 26 million people in an impoverished nation
where a third of
> district capitals don't have a road link to the
outside world, still
> cannot broadcast even censored news.
>
> For Nepalis starved for news, the 15-minute roadside
bulletins offer
> everything from news about the scarcity of fish in the
market to the
> country's Maoist rebellion and its political crisis to
the troubles in
> Iraq.
>
> "It is like a normal radio news bulletin where
listeners get
> information about major national and international
events," said Shiva
> Bahadur Karki of the Federation of Nepalese
Journalists which
> organizes the street side broadcasts.
>
> "We will continue this until full press freedom is
restored. We'll not give
> up."
>
> The federation plans similar broadcasts around the
country, including
> in Katmandu. So far, police have not stepped in,
treating the daily
> service as a public meeting, which is allowed, rather
than a news
> broadcast, which is not.
>
> Nepal's journalists are also sidestepping censorship
with Web logs, or
> blogs, but they have limited reach in a country with
few computers and
> Internet cafes.
>
> Gyanendra said he was force to take power and restrict
some freedoms
> to crush a nine-year Maoist revolt which has killed
12,000 people and
> which squabbling political parties have been unable to
put down.
> ======================================================
>
> forwarded by Mitu Varma, Panos from:
>
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/06/21/nepal.ra
dio.reut
>
>
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