A number of prominent civil society leaders have submitted a petition to the British Prime Minister David Cameron urging the UK government to stop the planned shutdown of the short wave transmissions of the BBC Nepali Service.
Nearly three dozen civil society leaders signed the petition and submitted it to the British ambassador John Tucknott on Thursday.
The petitioners have regretted the decision by the BBC World Service to shut down its short wave transmissions in Nepali from March 27 saying that the service had been making tremendous contribution to promote a culture of democracy, tolerance and dialogue on issues of national importance particularly among the poorest and scattered sections of Nepali society who have little access to information.
"We have witnessed in the past that whenever democracy is under threat, the media freedom is the first thing to come under attack and restrictions are imposed on FM radio stations from broadcasting independent news and views. In such a scenario, short wave transmission remains the only and dependable medium to reach out to the masses and protect the people's right to credible and impartial news, views and analysis. In this regard, the BBC Nepali Service has played a crucial role in building an informed critical mass across the country and beyond," the petition reads.
The signatories of the petition include renowned civil society leaders such as Prof Kapil Shrestha, Sushil Pokharel, Kanak Mani Dixit, Pradeep Ghimire, Kunda Dixit and so on.
The petition states that since short wave receivers can be battery operated, BBC Nepali Service has been available in places without electricity or during power cuts.
"If the short wave transmission is shut down, millions of Nepali listeners, mostly in remote, mountainous areas of Nepal, will be cut off from their essential source of dependable news, and the UK will irreversibly damage its most successful (brand) presence in Nepal. We, hence, urge you to take necessary measures so that the BBC World Service will continue with its Nepali transmission of short wave, for at least a few years until there is full coverage of FM service all over the country," reads the petition.
Meanwhile, a separate delegation of civil society members led by Arjun Dhakal of the National Network for Sustainable Development (NNSD), also handed over email petition to the British ambassador urging the UK government to stop the shutdown of short wave transmissions of BBC Nepali Service.
There were around 100 petitioners including former senior government officials, development practitioners, planners, experts, businessmen, and industrialists.
According to Dhakal, after receiving the petition, the British ambassador promised to forward it to foreign office and the prime minister.
The BBC World Service had decided to stop the short wave transmission of BBC Nepali in order to reduce its budget after the Foreign Office took the decision to cut grant to the BBC. nepalnews.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment