Free Speech and the Nepalese Hypocrisy
Nepal has a long history of oppression of speech. The Rana regime was the longest and the harshest example of this. People were hanged for speaking their mind. When democracy did come in 1951 (2007 B.S.), it was short-lived. What followed was another autocratic regime—the Panchayat system. It was only in 1991 (2046 B.S.) that democracy was restored. This didn’t last long either, the then King Gyanendra seized power and Nepal was forced into yet another autocratic regime. This, however, didn’t last very long and came to an end in 2008 (2065 B.S.) and Nepal embarked into an era of true democracy, or so we thought. But, the Electronic Transaction Act 2008 and Information Technology Bill in 2019, has once again pushed us in the wrong direction. Sadly, when it comes to free speech the Constitution leaves too much for interpretation and manoeuvrability for those in power and effectively keeps freedom of speech in their mercy. The Constitution of Nepal article 17(2) (1) state...