The 'Koshi State Mass Communication Bill' passed by the Justice, Administration and Legislation Committee of the Koshi State Government last Wednesday was submitted to the State Assembly on Friday.

  After the

bill was submitted to the House, the debate on journalism and press freedom in the province has become complicated again. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists, lawyers and human rights activists have strongly opposed this bill as a direct attack on press freedom. The Koshi State Committee of the Federation of Journalists has also announced the program of the phased movement after the all-party meeting of various organizations related to journalists on Sunday.

According to a statement released by the Federation's Secretary General Himakumari Chemjong, on August 9, journalists across the state will use social media to alert the government and the state assembly to amend the bill. On August 10th, they will meet with the Chief Minister, departmental ministers and party leaders to draw attention and protest across the state. On August 11, journalists will protest by sending a message to the provincial assembly members of their districts.

A sit-in program has been scheduled in front of the Chief Minister's office and district administration offices on August 12. On August 13, a large protest will be organized at Devkota Chowk in Biratnagar at 1 pm. Secretary General Chemjong has said, "The protest program will be intensified until the bill is withdrawn."

Why did the bill become controversial?

The Federation of Journalists alleges that the bill introduced by the state government contains provisions to control the media, stop content, and impose fines on journalists.

Article 17 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. However, this bill gives the provincial government the right to control the news, which experts say is against the spirit of the constitution.

"An environment that does not allow the media to work freely and threatens journalists is dangerous for democracy," said lawyer Naresh Khati, "If the bill is not amended, democratic values ​​will weaken." This can cause a threat to the entire democracy.' According to

human rights activist Shobha Bajgai, if independent journalism is weak, democracy is also weak. She expressed concern about the provision not to criticize the government as a dangerous sign. She said, 'If this law is being made to fine journalists, it is a serious conspiracy to deprive citizens of their right to information.' Even though the

bill has been registered in the parliament, the journalists' federation and civil society are worried about the silence of the main parties. Even though the MPs of some parties have objected individually, they have not dared to publicize a solid opinion as a party.

broadcast rule violation fined up to one and a half lakh

bill has tightened the provisions related to program production and broadcast . Sections 29 and 30 of the bill state that fines ranging from 25,000 to 1.5 lakhs will be levied if the rules are violated.

According to Article 29, the media should give priority to the programs of provincial government, education, health, tourism, industry, science, family planning, forest protection, development. Also, it is mentioned that programs to promote ethnic, linguistic, religious, gender equality and mutual harmony should be made mandatory.

However, in Article 30, there is a clear restriction on the broadcasting of some content . It has been warned that severe action will be taken if broadcasting content that spreads social unrest, incites ethnic or religious discrimination, encourages violence against the state, misleads news, false propaganda, insults or assassinates characters. The

bill has made it clear that the provision of fines is aimed at organizations or broadcasters that produce and broadcast programs.

"Broadcaster" means an organization, firm or company that has obtained a broadcasting permit. The spokesperson of the state government and the proposer of this bill, Minister of Internal Affairs and Law Revathiraman Bhandari made it clear that the fine is not directly imposed on individual journalists.

"However, if any journalistic organizations are found directly responsible for producing misleading, discriminatory or prohibited content, then fines will be imposed," said Bhandari, "We have no intention of fining journalists." According to Article 47 of the