MANISHA ARYAL

It was a unique form of protest. Among the marigolds, vermilion and incense sticks that devotees presented in a bamboo tray to Pashupatinath on Monday was a small FM radio set.

More than 50 members of various Nepali non-government radio stations that have been restricted to broadcasting only music since February First decided to appeal to Nepal’s patron deity for help. “Harahara Mahadeb,” they chanted in prayer, “give our rulers some wisdom.”

Nepal’s remarkable strides in community radio has been praised as a model the world over. Since Radio Sagarmatha first went on air in 1997 in Kathmandu Valley, 45 other FM stations have gone on air. Listenership had surpassed that of state-owned Radio Nepal. Commercial and non-profit FMs were equally popular and complemented each other to give Nepal’s pluralism and diversity a voice.

All this came to a crashing halt on 4 February with the government circular prohibiting FM stations from broadcasting news and limiting them to ‘pure entertainment’. The military and local administrations have been increasingly heavy handed with station management, issuing notices and demanding clarification if stations deviate even slightly from the directive.

The result is hundreds of journalists are out of jobs, the public has lost a vital and credible source of information, listenership of clandestine rebel broadcasts have gone up and stations that never broadcast Hindi music have turned to Bollywood to fill airtime. As a result, advertising revenues have tumbled and investors are worried.

For the last four months, broadcasters tried quiet diplomacy with informal one-on-ones with members of the cabinet, top army brass and the Minister for Information and Communication. They tried to convince them that, contrary to the minister’s belief, FM stations worldwide do carry news, that local FM stations can be partners in the country’s development and if the government censored independent news, information hungry Nepalis would just tune to Maoist frequencies. Nothing swayed them.

“When we met the Minister of Information Tanka Dhakal on 7 April, he assured us that the government would soon allow FM stations to broadcast non-political news,” says Raghu Mainali, coordinator of Save Independent-Radio Movement. “No announcement ever came.”

Now, the Community Radio Broadcasters’ Association, the Broadcasting Association of Nepal (an organisation of commercial broadcasters) and Kathmandu Valley FM Broadcasters Forum have come together to launch the radio campaign.

“Desperate times call for creative measures,” says Ghamaraj Luintel of Kathmandu Valley FM Broadcasters’ Forum. Indeed, the week-long protests include half-a-minute of simultaneous conch blowing by all stations, beseeching Pashupatinath, reciting the clause from the constitution on freedom of expression and mailing the government a copy of the constitution with a broken radio . Simultaneous silence on all stations for two minutes and lighting candles at the Maitighar Mandala are also scheduled.

The three broadcasting associations and the radio stations they represent know this is a last-ditch attempt to revive radio in Nepal. “Station managers don’t just have to worry about censorship, they also have to deal with salaries of employees and paying license renewal fees due on 15 July,” says Broadcasting Association of Nepal’s Bishnu Hari Dhakal. The license fees will double if not cleared within six months and expire with no possibility of renewal if not paid within a year. Nepali radio is in big trouble.