At least 20 die in Nepal violent clashes, 150 injured, curfew in many areas
At least 20 people were killed in Nepal on Monday, authorities said, as police in capital Kathmandu fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament in protest against a social media shutdown and corruption.
Some of the mainly youth protesters forced their way into the parliament complex in Kathmandu by breaking through a barricade, a local official said, setting fire to an ambulance and hurling objects at lines of riot police guarding the legislature.
"The police have been firing indiscriminately," one protester told the media. "They fired bullets which missed me but hit a friend who was standing behind me. He was hit in the hand."
About 150 people including 28 police personnel were injured and receiving medical treatment for their injuries, police officer Shekhar Khanal said. Protesters were carrying the injured to hospital on motorcycles.
Another two people were killed when protests in the eastern city of Itahari turned violent, police said.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the unrest, which erupted after thousands of young people, including many wearing their school or college uniforms, took to the streets earlier on Monday
.Many carried flags and placards with slogans such as "Shut down corruption and not social media", "Unban social media", and "Youths against corruption", as they marched through Kathmandu.
Organisers of the protests, which spread to other cities in the Himalayan country, have called them "demonstrations by Gen Z". They say the protests reflect young people's widespread frustration with government action to tackle corruption and boost economic opportunities.
"This is the protest by the new generation in Nepal," another protester said.
Curfew has been imposed in many places, the army is also on the streets, heavy clashes have taken place. Despite this, the protesters have not backed down and the protests are continuing even after reports of deaths.
Ban on social media
The Nepal government banned 26 platforms last week. These include popular social media and messaging platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The government decision to block access to several social media platforms has fuelled anger among the young. About 90% of Nepal's 30 million people use the internet.
The government says that social media companies were given a week's time to comply with the country's laws, open local offices and appoint grievance officers.
China's social media company TikTok complied with these conditions in time, so TikTok was not banned.
A large number of people in Nepal live abroad. After the ban on messaging apps and social media, Nepali citizens living abroad are facing difficulties in contacting their families.
Nepal's Home Minister offers to resign
Nepal's Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak offered to resign. He took this decision taking responsibility for the death of 20 protesters in today's violent clashes. According to media reports, Lekhak made this proposal in the meeting of Nepali Congress officials.
Earlier, Professor Govinda Raj Pokhrel, a member of the Central Working Committee of the Nepali Parliament, had demanded Lekhak's immediate resignation. He said that the Home Minister should resign immediately. If he does not do so, the party should remove him from the post without delay.