Kathmandu, March 10:

Media experts and professionals today condemned the government for trying to make the army politically active by allowing them to run FM stations.

The government had recently decided to let the RNA open FM stations in all five development regions as well as in the capital.

Addressing an interaction organised by the three district committees of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), former army official Dipta Prakash Shah said the duty of the army was not to politicise their issues but to safeguard the country from foreign enemies.

“The army is not anyone’s personal property. There is a clear legal provision about what they can and cannot do,” he said, adding, the RNA’s interest in FM radio is illegal.

The RNA’s intention behind wanting to run FM stations was not clear, Shah added: “Is it to quell the insurgency, for propaganda purposes, or to strengthen a particular political force?”

If the RNA had good intentions behind airing their activities, they could have bought time from any of the two dozens FM stations running across the country, Shah added.

Community radio activist Raghu Mainali said the army wanting to take part in political, economic and logistic spheres of the State was a matter of grave concern to every citizen.

Chairman of SAFMA Nepal Chapter, Gopal Thamapliya, said the army’s interest to run FM stations was another step towards curbing free press. FNJ president Bishnu Nisthuri said also expressed similar views.

Senior journalist Harihar Birahi warned that the government was trying to create monopoly even in FM stations.