Song Hong
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The role of Indian television news channels has grown increasingly prominent in the rising friction between New Delhi and Kathmandu in recent weeks. Last week, the Nepal Cable TV Association said it would ban some Indian channels after they carried unsubstantiated stories alleging a romantic link-up between Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi.
In one report by Zee Hindustan, the reason for fraying Nepal-India ties was that Oli had “given his heart away and … found himself in a Chinese honey trap that forced him to bargain with India-Nepal ties”. The report, which has since been deleted from its YouTube channel, called Hou a “Chinese spy” and a “poison maiden”, and made allegations about Oli and Hou without providing any evidence.
Another channel, India News, on July 6 carried a report titled, “How Oli was trapped by China’s honey trap”, and alleged that Hou had used “cunning and style to fulfil Xi’s desire to break India’s friendship with Nepal”.
The unsubstantiated claims prompted an angry Nepal government to lodge a protest with India and send a diplomatic note asking it to “take steps against [the broadcast of] fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive” stories.
The former head of Amnesty India, Aakar Patel, said the Modi government maintained tight control over the Indian media’s coverage.
“There is no question that the Modi government uses the media as an extension of its foreign policy. News channels receive instructions on a daily basis from Modi’s office on what it should be covering and how,” he said.
Patel, a senior journalist who has helmed various media newsrooms in India, said such control was difficult to resist, pointing to the industry’s dynamics. Estimates show India has more than 400 news channels, reaching some 400 million viewers. “The government of India is the biggest advertiser in the country, so in a competitive media space like India, it can be very tough to refuse to listen to the government.”
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/poli...dian-media-attack-nepal-it-grows-closer-china
In one report by Zee Hindustan, the reason for fraying Nepal-India ties was that Oli had “given his heart away and … found himself in a Chinese honey trap that forced him to bargain with India-Nepal ties”. The report, which has since been deleted from its YouTube channel, called Hou a “Chinese spy” and a “poison maiden”, and made allegations about Oli and Hou without providing any evidence.
Another channel, India News, on July 6 carried a report titled, “How Oli was trapped by China’s honey trap”, and alleged that Hou had used “cunning and style to fulfil Xi’s desire to break India’s friendship with Nepal”.
The unsubstantiated claims prompted an angry Nepal government to lodge a protest with India and send a diplomatic note asking it to “take steps against [the broadcast of] fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive” stories.
The former head of Amnesty India, Aakar Patel, said the Modi government maintained tight control over the Indian media’s coverage.
“There is no question that the Modi government uses the media as an extension of its foreign policy. News channels receive instructions on a daily basis from Modi’s office on what it should be covering and how,” he said.
Patel, a senior journalist who has helmed various media newsrooms in India, said such control was difficult to resist, pointing to the industry’s dynamics. Estimates show India has more than 400 news channels, reaching some 400 million viewers. “The government of India is the biggest advertiser in the country, so in a competitive media space like India, it can be very tough to refuse to listen to the government.”
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/poli...dian-media-attack-nepal-it-grows-closer-china
