The Nepal Police on May 21, 2024, arrested Kailash Sirohiya, the chairman of the Kantipur Media Group (KMG) which publishes the Kantipur vernacular daily over citizenship issues. A team of Nepal Police arrested Sirohiya from his office in Kathmandu. Sirohiya’s detention follows an arrest warrant by the Dhanusha District Court earlier on the same day of his arrest, days after the Dhanusha District Police Officer that there were some issues related to the citizenship of Sirohiya.
Sirohiya has denied all the charges. In a statement, he said that he had acquired citizenship as per Nepali law and that he is a bonafide situation of Nepal. “The moment the issue surfaced I had made it clear that I am open to investigation by any competitive authority Sirohiya said. But till date there has not been any single interrogation and suddenly this arrest warrant was issued,” he said. Sirohiya called this arrest warrant as an act of vengeance by Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.
Lamichhane has been embroiled in a controversy over the allegations that he misappropriates the cooperative funds when he was the managing director of a television company and Kantipur newspaper has run a series of reports about him over the past few months. In the statement, Sirohiya said that arrest warrant was issued with an intent of blackmailing the Kantipur into not publishing more reports on the issue of cooperative scam.
“The arrest warrant against me has issues with prejudice by the government,” he said. The Home Minister has tried to exact revenge on Kantipur. He also said that rather than him the authorities should be investigating Lamichhane over holding dual passports. This is Lamichhane’s second stint as Home Minister. In January 2023, the he had to step down as the Home Minister after it was found that he had already relinquished his Nepali citizenship to acquire US citizenship and held dual passports.
He had to resign as parliamentarian as well, but in a by-election in April 2023, he won again and was appointed as the Home Minister by PM Prachanda in March 2024. Stating that even if he is arrested, Kantipur would not deviate from its responsibility of doing good journalism. Attacks have been made on Kantipur in the past too, he said. Today’s government head was leading the Maoist insurgency at that time when our paper gave space to his party Maoist views.
Back in 2001, the Sirohiya said was jailed and along with Kantipur editor Yubraj Ghimmire for publishing an article by Baburam Bhattarai, then deputy of Prachanda. Ghimmire told an Indian media agency that the government will have to pay a good price for arresting the chairman of a leading media company.
Political Responsibility is with the Home Minster whose own citizenship is in question, Lamichhane who is engaged in politics of vendetta, Ghimmire said. “As far as my arrest is concerned along with Sirohiya in the past is concerned, I was very clear that Prachanda and his party never held any respect for press freedom he does not have that now and today’s arrests of Sirohiya proves that. The Federation of Nepali Journalists, the umbrella organisation of Nepali journalists termed Sirohiya arrest an attack on media.
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