Kathmandu, April 10 -- Following a government crackdown on their silent protest, taxi drivers who are demanding scientific fare revision through pamphlets pasted on their rear windshields for the past three months say the government's move is autocratic and curtails their right to freedom of expression.

In the past three days, traffic police officers in the Capital have been accused of using force and tearing the pamphlets off taxis following a memo from the Department of Transport Management on March 25.

The department had instructed the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division to rid the taxis of the pamphlets.

In the department's words, the pamphlets sent a 'misleading message' to the public and are merely tools of 'emotional blackmail'...