The CPN-UML has objected to an incident in which vehicles were suspiciously parked at the main gates of various media houses in Kathmandu, allegedly obstructing journalists and media personnel from entering their offices and carrying out news reporting.
In a statement issued on Monday, Niraj Acharya, head of the UML's publicity department, described the incident – where vehicles were parked across the entrances of media outlets including Kantipur Publications, Onlinekhabar, and Himalaya Television – as a direct attack on democracy and press freedom.
He said that any activity interfering with the constitutional right to freely collect, disseminate, and publish news is unacceptable.
“Vehicles have been suspiciously parked at the main gates of various media outlets, creating obstacles for journalists and media persons to report to work and terrorizing them. Since this morning, vehicles have been parked across the gates of Kantipur Publications in Tinkune, Onlinekhabar in New Baneshwar, and Himalaya Television in Mid-Baneshwor, completely halting the movement of journalists. This act is an outright assault on democracy and press freedom,” Acharya said.
He noted that the Constitution guarantees the right to freely collect and disseminate news, adding that protecting this right is the responsibility of the state.
Acharya said that such activities intended to intimidate media houses and journalists and obstruct their regular work are not only condemnable, but also mysterious. He called for an impartial investigation into the incident and legal action against those responsible.
The UML also said that it fully supports all the demands put forward by the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) regarding the incident.
