On Monday morning, the gates of three media outlets were blocked by suspicious vehicles. This was not an accident or a case of bad parking. These vehicles were deliberately placed to stop the work of journalists at Kantipur Media Group, Onlinekhabar and Himalaya TV. Investigations found that the vehicles belonged to members of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). One was linked directly to Ravi Jaiswal, a member of the party’s investigation and documentation department.

The reaction from the media fraternity was swift and defiant. The Federation of Nepali Journalists and the Gen Z Journalist Forum strongly condemned this coordinated stunt. They recognised it as a blatant act of political vendetta. The forum stated that the stunt’s goal was to silence reporting on state failures, including the tragic self-immolation of Ganesh Nepali, the state brutality used against youth activists and the ill-managed relocation of evicted squatter settlers.

The role of the Nepal Police in this saga is shameful. When the media houses were blocked, the police did nothing. They displayed extreme lethargy. They claimed they needed ‘orders from above’ to move the vehicles. This shows a police force that has become a tool for political interests. They prioritised the protection of the vehicles over the rights to information and free movement. Law enforcement should act within a legal mandate. They should not be the private security for a ruling party.

The government’s crackdown on youth activists is even more brutal. Activists Majid Ansari, Sarishma Thapa and Nelson Ghatani went to a holding centre in Kirtipur on Saturday to support evicted squatters who lost everything to recent flooding. Ansari, a legal practitioner, was assaulted, verbally and physically, by officers. He was grabbed by the collar and beaten. His vision became blurred from injuries. He ended up in a hospital bed while Thapa and Ghatani were forced to sign statements promising never to protest again. Ansari is still under strict police custody in the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, while the police maintain that he was never taken into custody. Police still cite the required ‘orders from above’ for his release while also maintaining that he has never been placed in custody.

This is a systematic pattern of suppression. The police arrested twenty-six people for a peaceful sit-in in Morang. They detained Durga Prasai at the airport simply because he wanted to speak to the press. They are hunting critics on the internet using the Electronic Transactions Act as a weapon. A YouTuber was arrested for his content. A health worker was arrested for a social media post that criticised a minister. These are the actions of a regime that cannot handle criticism.

The government defends these actions by citing security. They say the airport is a sensitive zone. They say they only act against those who obstruct the law. This is a hollow excuse. In a democracy, people have a right to challenge the government. Peaceful expression of dissent is a fundamental human right. When a government treats every critic as a criminal, it has lost its moral authority to lead.

The state is using the police to hide its own failures. They failed to provide a dignified solution for displaced squatters. They failed to prevent the tragedy of Ganesh Nepali. Instead of solving these problems, they crack down on people who point them out. This is a betrayal of the public trust. The people expected a government that respects human rights. They have a government that uses ‘orders from above’ to silence the truth.

The government must understand one thing clearly. Power built on fear is fragile. You can arrest activists and block the gates of news houses. You can force students to sign ‘commitments of silence’. But you cannot stop the flow of information. The public is watching your every move. Every act of censorship is being tracked. The news media will continue to document these failures of leadership. You may have the batons and the vehicles. But that won’t deter us from reporting the truth.