KATHMANDU, July 10: Taking a strong exception to contents produced by some Indian news channels including Zee News which linked Prime Minister KP Oli with Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi, Press Council Nepal (PCN) has drawn the attention of Press Council of India.
In a letter to the Press Council of India, Kishor Shrestha, the chairperson of PCN stated that contents produced by some Indian media have undermined Nepal's sovereignty and dignity.
"We have taken serious exception to the Press Council of India over the dissemination of unsubstantiated, inexcusable and baseless contents by some Indian media," Shrestha said.
“Press Council has attacked press freedom and journalists' righ...
Indian media outlets including Zee News TV channel have come under fire in Nepal for their baseless propaganda against Nepal government and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
People from various walks of life including political parties, media fraternity, civil society and intellectual community have vented their ire on social media particularly against a recent imaginary and defamatory show run by Zee News which has linked Prime Minister Oli with Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi.
In the 16-minute show with a headline offensive toward PM Oli and Ambassador Hou, the two anchors tried to give an impression to the Indian audience that PM Oli is working at the behest of China and Hou is doing her best to meddle into Nepal's internal affairs. They even accused the Chinese ambassador of hatching conspiracies to harm Nepal-India relations.
Earlier this week, The Times of India published a disrespectful picture of Prime Minister Oli in its editorial. Indo Asian News Service, India Today, WION, Times Now and Republic TV are other Indian media outlets which ran baseless reports linking PM Oli with the Chinese ambassador to Nepal.
The Federation of Nepalese Journalists and other media organizations in Nepal have also vented ire against the Indian media reports which ran news on PM Oli, linking him with the Chinese ambassador to Nepal.
The Nepal government on Thursday condemned a section of the Indian media which “engaged in the character assassination of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal recently.”
At a press conference, government spokesperson Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the government may seek political and legal remedies through diplomatic channels against baseless Indian media coverage which has undermined Nepal's sovereignty and dignity. "We urge the entire media including from our neighboring countries not to undermine Nepal's sovereignty and dignity," the spokesperson said.
