Representatives from various sectors and professions have criticised the arrest of Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.

They termed it as an attempt not only to muzzle the media but also to suppress the voices from other critical communities such as film, civil society and the intellectual society.

Filmmaker Manoj Pandit described it as an attempt to frighten the society just like an antagonist in a movie creates terror in the society to establish oneself.

He said that the Sirohiya arrest should be looked at in a broader picture. “As a filmmaker, I think that if the ‘antagonist’ succeeds to establish himself, he will terrorise the entire society,” Pandit said in an interaction organised by the Kantipur chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) on Sunday.

Border expert Buddhi Narayan Shrestha said that the incident of armed security personnel arresting the chairman of a media company, that too from his workplace, was a matter of serious concern. “Also the allegations levelled against him are completely baseless,” he said. “It is not only me but also reputed international organisations such as International Federation of Journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Border and the Society of Professional Journalists have said so.”

He said that journalist-turned politician Lamichhane had shown arrogance after his overnight rise to power. “He thought that he could intimidate anyone, so independent people like us should stand united against such acts.”

Rights activist and writer Mitra Pariyar said that he supports the media organisation in its fight as the society needs independent media like the KMG because they give space to critical voices. “This is clearly a vengeance from the home minister and this is the beginning of the end of his populist politics,” he said.

Researcher Rita Sah said some people were trying to divide the society in this case as well. She said the allegation levelled against KMG chair Sirohiya was not new for her as the trend of looking at the people from Madheshi community in a suspicious way in terms of their citizenship has become a common trend in the country.

She said that there is no confusion at all that the authorities arrested Sirohiya clearly with an objective to intimidate the Kantipur media house. “They may come up with other charges as well, so be prepared even for that,” Sah added.

Raj Kumar Mahato, secretary of Mahottari chapter of the FNJ, said that the arrest is one of the representative cases of how people from the Madheshi community are troubled under one pretext or the other. “It is so unfortunate that a Nepali citizen has been compelled to go to Janakpur to prove that he is a Nepali citizen,” Mahato said. “Madhesh has been supplying foodgrains to Kathmandu for ages but the capital city has always humiliated the Madhesh.”

Researcher Ramesh Parajuli said that Sirohiya was arrested clearly out of revenge. It clearly indicates that the state attack in Nepal’s media has started which is very concerning, he said.

Human rights and constitutional lawyer Raju Prasad Chapagain described the cases as a conflict between press and state agencies. “In this conflict, the press must emerge stronger,” he said. He criticised Nepali media for failing to raise the issue of conflict of interest when Lamichhane was appointed home minister because he was given the home ministry when the issue of Lamichhane holding passports of two countries was sub-judice.

Photojournalist Bikas Rauniyar, journalist Ramesh Bhusal, writer Yug Pathak, researchers JB Bishwakarma and Pranab Kharel, and filmmaker Kiran BK, among others, expressed solidarity in the fight and suggested not to surrender to state highhandedness.