Nepal comedy show faces censorship row over muted dialogue

A recent episode of Nepal's popular comedy show "Comedy Darbar" has ignited a censorship controversy, drawing criticism over restrictions on artistic expression. The show, broadcast on Prime Television HD, featured lawmakers from the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as guests. Viewers noticed that several lines of dialogue were muted with audio bleeps, particularly during a segment involving comedians portraying the Speaker of the House and a parliamentary marshal.

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We did not use any offensive, obscene or unlawful language that warranted muting. Television content has its own standards of decorum, and we are fully aware of that. But, quite surprisingly, every time the word ‘Speaker’ was used, it was replaced with a beep.

Veteran satirist Manoj Gajurel, a judge on the program, stated that the muted word was primarily "Speaker." He asserted that no offensive, obscene, or unlawful language was used, and the team was aware of television content standards. "Quite surprisingly, every time the word ‘Speaker’ was used, it was replaced with a beep," Gajurel told Kantipur.

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We spend every week developing scripts through extensive writing and the hard work of our performers. It is deeply disheartening when our work is so easily censored. Perhaps, like films, television programmes in Nepal are expected only to make people cry.

The show's director and host, Bikey Agarwal, expressed deep disappointment over the alteration of their creative work. "We spend every week developing scripts through extensive writing and the hard work of our performers. It is deeply disheartening when our work is so easily censored," Agarwal wrote on Facebook. He added, "Perhaps, like films, television programmes in Nepal are expected only to make people cry."

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After the trailer was released on social media with Prime Television’s logo, the Press Council verbally warned us. I was concerned that an official letter or further legal complications might follow, so I contacted directors Bikey Agarwal and Shraddha Prasai. On their advice, we inserted the beep sounds over those words to avoid unnecessary controversy.

Som Dhital, CEO of Prime Television, explained that the Press Council Nepal had verbally cautioned the channel after receiving a complaint about the program's online trailer. Fearing potential official letters or legal issues, Dhital consulted with directors Bikey Agarwal and Shraddha Prasai. Following their advice, the channel inserted the beep sounds to preempt unnecessary controversy. Jhabindra Bhusal, the Press Council's chief officer, confirmed they had alerted the broadcaster after a complaint from a Federal Parliament Secretariat official, aiming to prevent potential legal complications or contempt allegations related to Parliament.

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We did not instruct anyone to cut or remove any content. We simply informed the broadcast