Because the government is muzzling free speech in Nepal

February 8, 2025•919 words

  • The "East" has not historically appreciated free speech. The value system of Southasia, including Nepal, does not support it. Any form of freedom that people have practiced in this region has been within the bounds that the state deemed free. Thousands of years ago, Buddha was met with physical violence when he went against the conventional wisdom of his time. If that is too far in the past, the assumed liberal arguments undertaken by Adi Shankara never extended to the royal policies. It is not so different today.
  • It was Voltaire and Rousseau who propounded the concept of Freedom of Expression as we understand today. And it is the First Amendment of the US constitution that exemplifies what Freedom of Expression stands for to the entire world.
  • While the foundation of Freedom of Expression was building in the West, Nepal was still divided into smaller kingdoms, and unification attempts were being made; the country was not yet exposed to the outside world. It would take hundreds of years for citizens to get freedom of any kind.
  • This is still very fresh to us -- You were allowed to engage in debate until it did not involve naming the royals. Not just politics but also the work of art that remotely appeared to criticize the king would face hardship: jail time and even death. Its extreme form was seen in the 30-year long Panchayat rule (1961-1990) and during the king's direct rule in the early 2000s. (It seems we are reversing the journey today!!)
  • Things are changing. There has been some growth in the past decade or two such that people are able to express themselves more freely than anytime in the history of our nation. It is most likely due to the installment of the democratic republic in the country, advent of social media, the effects of globalization, emigration, and broadly, people's exposure to the world and awareness.
  • Things are changing, again. People are dissatisfied with the pace at which the country is developing (or not). And dissenting views are being expressed on social media. Contrary to what the political elites, including a group of old khas men are used to, i.e., getting mandates every 5 years and free reign in between, now the citizens are taking upon themselves to protest and even occupy the political space utilizing the power of social media. This is novel and disruptive.
  • The elites have tried muzzling dissenting voices at many occasions in the past few years. Bidyutiya Karobar Ain, the Cyber Crime Bill is one of the most abused laws. Opposing party leaders are arrested for speaking 'ill' of the reigning Prime Minister and President. Cartoons have been struck down because they caricature how corrupt the politics is. Songs have been taken down from YouTube because they portray reality, Lootna sakey loot, which the political elites don't want to see or hear. Comedians are arrested for their jokes while the political parties are making joke of people's sufferings. Rappers are put behind bars for their bars while tonnes of gold bars are freely smuggled in and out of the country. Civilians are jailed for their questions government sees as incivility because only PMs can scream in loud voice, not civilians. What is it, if not suppression of our free speech?
  • All they have done and all they are doing is not enough to stop the people, yet. Because people will voice their concerns, organize protest, despite a few being put in a 25-day custody, via social media. So the political elite now wants to bomb the very place people gather, pull out the wire from the very microphone that amplifies people's voice, remove the very platform citizens make their grievances heard and seen. Using the state machineries, these old men are making free speech so expensive that a layperson cannot afford it. They want us to be silent.
  • When the state intervenes in what you can and cannot say, it implicitly determines what you can and cannot think. What happens to a country whose citizens cannot think freely for themselves and have opinions of their own? It is a zombie society inviting a totalitarian regime. Citizens praise their Leader while puking with hatred inside. Where does this lead? National and global history speaks for us.
  • The political elites are missing that when you take away a person's speech -- free speech -- the outlet for their thought, the place to speak and express themselves, then there's only one place left to go. It is the streets.

  • Is the elite class prepared for the youth coming to the streets and the citizens collectively defying the government? Is it prepared to face the people's rage, or will they flee the country?

  • To my fellow citizens: We can't let the political elites abuse state machineries to muzzle our constitutionally guaranteed Freedom of Expression. In today's world, we express ourselves, mostly online than offline IRL. Any attempt that's made to mute us, control our thoughts online means zero freedom of expression IRL too. Such an attempt should not succeed.

  • We think, we write, we speak. We defy censorship in any shape and form. We won't accept the proposed bill. Let your parents and families know it. Let your friends know it. Let your colleagues know it. Let your MPs know it. Let your ministers know it.

  • Speak about it, it is your right. And occupy the streets if it comes to that.