Widespread anti-government protests flared up in Nepal on Tuesday, with students leading demonstrations across multiple districts to demand the resignation of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. The unrest came despite restrictions on public gatherings, with protesters openly defying curbs.
Crowds gathered in Kalanki and Baneshwor areas of Kathmandu, as well as the Chapagaun-Thecho belt in Lalitpur district. Eyewitnesses reported that demonstrators in Kalanki blocked roads from early morning by burning tyres, chanting slogans such as “Don’t kill students”, “KP Chor, Desh Chhod” (K P Sharma Oli is a thief, quit the country), and “Take action against corrupt leaders.”
In Lalitpur’s Sunakothi, agitators pelted stones at the residence of Communication Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung, who had earlier ordered the ban on social media platforms. Protesters also vandalised the home of former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ in Khumaltar and staged demonstrations outside the residence of another former premier, Sher Bahadur Deuba, in Budhanilkantha.
The protests mark a sharp escalation in youth-led opposition to the government following the controversial social media restrictions.
