INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU: On Thursday, NepalMulti-System Operators decided to put a ban on Indian news channels on account of their ‘unfounded& reports
on Nepal over the last few days.
As major news outlets began carrying the reports on the broadcasting-ban, #BackOffIndianMedia began
trending on Twitter, yet again.
This is not the first time that the hashtag found popularity among Nepali social media users
Nepalis had by and large condemned coverage of Nepal earthquake in May 2015 by the Indian news channel reporters
That was when the ‘hashtag& had first originated and become widespread.
Cut to 2020- Indian news channels have been constantly filing
reports sans thorough research on Nepali political scene, and that in the aftermath of border disputes between the once friendly
neighbours.
Things went haywire as one of the channels released a defamatory ‘episode& involving NepalPrime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the
Ambassador of China to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, earlier this week.
The report garnered widespread criticism in Nepal as even the spokesperson of
the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) used a strong statement to call out Indian news media, asking them to stop their ‘nonsense&, on
Thursday.
Later, on the same day, the cable operators decided to stop broadcasting the channels, which then paved way for the
rise-of-the-hashtag, yet again.
People were very quick to react to reports of the broadcasting-ban as it ignited a war-of-words, again, on
the social networking sites.
It now remains to be seen if the decision to halt release of the news channels stays as it is or if a ‘change
of hearts& is considered, eventually.
The post #BackOffIndianMedia trends in Nepal, yet again, as cable operators decide not to broadcast
Indian news channels appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
