If it had to be done, the intelligent way to do February First would have been to build domestic consensus, bring political parties in as a block, build bridges, assuage the international community, and work with a free media as an ally. That is the way to fight fascism. But by patterning their repression on Maoist tactics, our rulers have shown the same sloppy desperation as the enemy they are supposedly fighting.

Even people who went along with February First were dismayed by the choice of cabinet, district and zonal commissioners. It didn't take long to realise that the positions were a fa?ade and real power was with a clique belonging to an old guard hardline fringe of the royal right from the Panchayat days.

With friends like these, the monarchy doesn't need enemies. By taking the crude retrogressive steps that they have (the latest is the medieval media edict that they have sent to King Gyanendra) they have turned themselves into the kingdom's most steadfast republicans.

What could be more symbolic of the pincer movement against the media than the looting last week of Ghodaghodi FM in western Nepal by Maoists at a time when the rural community radio station, like all others in the country, have been gagged by the state.

Elsewhere, we see the same petty-minded, counter-productive techniques to intimidate the media. The ministry's threats to close down Rishi Dhamala's Reporter's Club, an important forum for independent public debate, is just one example of this ham-handedness. It doesn't work in this day and age, this belief that you can shackle journalists. Power must come from popular legitimacy, not by cloaking yourself in sycophantic propaganda of pseudo-events on state media. It is not true that Nepal Television, Radio Nepal and the government dailies are as bad as the pre-1990s. They are worse.

When lies fly, telling the truth is the media's minimum responsibility. Better to keep quiet than tell a lie. Protecting the credibility and independence of media is one of the ways to protect legitimacy. But they never learn, do they? The draft media ordinance seeks to give the royal seal of approval and permanence to the harsh restrictions already in place, making it more difficult to tell the truth.

In his acceptance speech on receiving this year's UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, Chinese journalist Cheng Yizhong thanked the state for its stupidity in jailing him and turning him into a hero. He added mockingly: "Thank you for giving us the bell, and then taking it away."