The Nepali media fraternity on Wednesday said that the Home Ministry had shown autocratic tendency by arresting Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya and that the move had been motivated by personal vendetta.

Speaking at a press meet organised at the Central Business Park in Thapathali, Shubhashankar Kandel, president of the Nepal Media Society, said that the home ministry was heading towards autocracy adding that the law should be the same for all citizens.

Citing the case of House of Representatives General Secretary Padma Prasad Pandey, who was found to have held two citizenships but had got the citizenship number corrected, Kandel questioned if the government was implementing different laws based on individuals.

“There could have been duplication in the citizenship number. Sirohiya was arrested for it, but General Secretary Pandey wasn’t. Is the law different for people facing the same accusation in the same country?” he questioned.

All those guilty should be punished as per law, even Sirohiya, but he was arrested for vengeance by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, Kandel added.

The media fraternity also expressed their belief that the KMG chair had been taken into custody because the home minister was scared after his name had been mentioned in news reports on cooperative scams published by Kantipur and other media houses.

“Kailash Sirohiya’s arrest is wrong. We strongly believe, and are firm about the fact, that he was arrested simply because of the news written and published [by Kantipur],” Reporters Club of Nepal President Rishi Dhamala said.

Anyone can be brought under investigation, but there is ill intention behind the arrest of the KMG chair, Dhamala added.

“The authorities can investigate his citizenship issue. But the way the entire Nepali media fraternity has been attacked with ill intention and for vengeance is unacceptable. We are ready to do whatever it takes [to safeguard the dignity of the media].”

Dhamala also added that Lamichhane had repeatedly attacked the media and that he couldn’t bear criticism.

“Home Minister Lamichhane has always targeted and repeatedly attacked the media when he speaks. Criticism and protest are the beauty of democracy. The home minister was scared after his name was stated in the reports of cooperatives scams published by Kantipur and other media houses.”

KMG chair Sirohiya was arrested by a team of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office personnel from the Kantipur Publications’ headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu on Tuesday. He has been held in custody in Dhanusha.

Sirohiya was detained based on a complaint filed by Indrajit Mahato of Sarlahi district at the Dhanusha district police office on April 28. In the complaint, the applicant accused Sirohiya of using multiple citizenships and demanded that the offence be investigated according to the Citizenship Act 2006.

The media fraternity and political leaders have condemned the arrest, calling the move a breach of the constitution and an abuse of state power.