Kathmandu, October 31, 2026 — Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has condemned police operations at media houses in which journalists were taken into custody, followed by their release only after public pressure.
In a statement issued on Friday evening, Thapa said the party was seriously concerned about the practice and urged the government to stop arrests and harassment that violate the law, rather than releasing those detained only after public pressure.
Thapa said deploying police inside newsrooms to arrest and detain journalists recalled the authoritarian practices of the royal era. He added that similar incidents had occurred in the past when those in power faced questions from the media and misused state authority to target the press.
He described the recurrence of such practices as a matter of serious concern for democracy, saying the Nepali Congress had consistently defended press freedom, civil rights and the rule of law since its establishment.
Thapa said independent journalism was a foundation of democracy and that established legal and institutional mechanisms, including the Press Council, were available to address any wrongdoing or errors by media outlets or journalists.
He argued that bypassing those procedures and directly intervening in media houses amounted to disregarding the rule of law and turning the law into an instrument of government power. He described the action against journalists and media organizations as condemnable and said the party strongly denounced it.
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The Nepali Congress also called on the government to protect the constitutional rights of those taken into custody, immediately stop unnecessary police intervention in media houses and correct actions taken outside legal procedures.