KATHMANDU, NEPAL, September 8, 2013 (India Today): Cable operators in Nepal today blocked the broadcast of a Zee TV program on Lord Buddha, following protests that it depicted the ancient sage as being born in India instead of the Himalayan nation. The channel had aired the first episode of its new show “Buddha” that claimed that Buddha was born in India, not Nepal.
Around 300 cable operators blocked the television channel for an hour today as the show was launched. “We were afraid that the content of the show might be disrespectful to Nepali audience,” Sudhir Parajuli, Chairman of the Nepal Cable TV Association, told media here.
“In precaution, we decided to impose self-censorship on the show. We had tried to contact Zee TV in this regard but as it was a public holiday today, no one was available to clarify our queries,” Parajuli said.
The move was not an official decision of the Ministry of Information and Communication, an official said. “The cable operators had independently decided to black out the channel today,” according to Shailaja Bhattarai, Under Secretary at the Ministry.