This isn’t about the border—it’s about fear

Do we want to build a Nepal where freedom is curtailed in the name of security?

The government of Nepal’s decision to make it mandatory to pay customs duty on goods worth more than Rs100 brought through land routes from India may appear sudden and unexpected. But this is not merely a story about the border. This is a story of the politics of fear. The story of a state that has begun to fear its own citizens. This is not just a policy change. This is the decline of priorities.