KATHMANDU: Prime Minister and Chairman of Maoist Center Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli, and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) have all voiced similar perspectives on Kantipur Media Group (KMG) Kailash Sirohiya’s arrest.
All these three leaders have stated that it is not appropriate to claim that press freedom is under threat.
UML Chairman Oli, speaking at a program in Jhapa, responded to local media inquiries about Sirohiya’s arrest, saying, “There is a lot of hue and cry going on. I don’t think that should be done.”
Prime Minister Dahal echoed this sentiment in Kathmandu.
Speaking briefly to journalists at Chandragiri after the ‘International Dialogue of Experts on Mountains, People, and Climate’, he said, “I merely gave a nod to the counrt’s orders after it asked to proceed with the process. I don’t think it is necessary to make more noise.”
Oli’s remarks in Jhapa coincided with PM Dahal’s statement in Kathmandu.
Oli elaborated, “There may be issues of controversy, but it is not intended to imprison him for life. Sirohiya’s is a different case. It is not a matter of why this news was published or why this was said. The subject is different. There may be a criminal matter in that regard.”
Oli also questioned why democracy is perceived to be in danger when a media house owner is arrested in a criminal case, while it is not when other people are arrested.
He said, “If the government sees that there is a need to investigate, then there is no need to raise unnecessary voice when someone is arrested, whether it is a minister or a prime minister. If a media person is arrested, how will democracy be in danger?”
Oli added, “Is democracy in danger? Are communication rights taken away? Such misinterpretation is not appropriate.”
UML Chairman Oli also denied the allegation that Sirohiya was arrested for writing news about cooperatives connected to Home Minister Lamichhane.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Mukul Dhakal, the Spokesperson for the RSP led by Home Minister Lamichhane, issued a statement saying that the police arrested businessman Kailash Sirohiya to investigate the accusation of forged citizenship with the permission of the Dhanusha District Court, asserting that no one is above the law.
The statement emphasized that “recognition that everyone must follow the law, no matter how powerful they are and “it is feudal cowardice to say that no one should be touched.”
RSP stated that Sirohiya’s arrest is not a matter of press freedom.
The statement clarified, “A person who runs a profitable private business and a hard-working journalist who writes news cannot be put in the same basket.”
An investigation with sufficient grounds with the permission of the court is not an infringement of press freedom, it stated.
“Let justice be done. Let the message go to the people that the state should wake up if the media becomes a weapon of greed, terror, and bargaining. Finally, let the democratic rule of law prevail,” it added.
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