Expanding Digital Spaces for Deliberations
By Harsha Man Maharjan The debate regarding singer Durgesh Thapa’s new song, “Bicha Bichama -4 (Khyassa Putali)”, released o n Youtube on 23 July 2021 on the occasion of Teej show that a group of people are not happy with the use of the words, “Khyassa Putali”. Just a day earlier, the National Folk and Duet Song Academy Nepa l had requested the singer to change these two “objectionable” words and after the singer did not follow their request, it has been reported that this organization is planning to boycott the singer and the song. This situation has created the debate regarding the shrinking of digital spaces in Nepal. Let us see the other two cases in brief. Shrinking Digital Spaces This first case is related to “national security”. A video was made public on the Youtube channel with the title “Deshdrohi” on August 18, 2020. The lyrics of the video criticizes Brahmins and Chhetris and it contains visuals of burning the national flag ...