KATHMANDU: Following skirmishes between youth activists and supporters of the former ruling party, which was deposed in a deadly revolt in September, the prime minister of Nepal has called for peace.
Simara, a town in Nepal’s southern Bara district about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Kathmandu, saw a return to peace on Thursday, according to police, one day after fighting between opposing demonstrators. On September 8 and 9, protestors under the vague “Gen Z” umbrella organized protests that resulted in at least 76 fatalities. The protests were sparked by discontent over a temporary government ban on social media.
On Wednesday, rallies were organized in Simara by members of Generation Z and supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), which ousted former prime minister KP Sharma Oli. Authorities imposed a curfew when fights broke out, some of them near the airport. “The situation is normal,” Abi Narayan Kafle, a spokeswoman for the Nepalese police, told AFP on Thursday. “No one was severely injured.”
Before the elections scheduled for March 5, 2026, Sushila Karki, the former chief justice who was named interim prime minister following the September upheaval, urged all parties to “refrain from unwanted political provocation” and to have faith in the democratic process. Karki said, “I have directed the Home Administration and security agencies to work with utmost restraint and preparation to maintain peace and order,” in a statement released late on Wednesday.
She stated that she wished to “ensure the safe movement of leaders of all political parties, and create a fair and fear-free environment for the elections” . Additionally, Karki met with representatives of around 110 parties on Wednesday. “We want this country to be in the hands of a new generation and to be managed by people with vision,” she stated at the event. The social media ban imposed by the previous government was the catalyst for the September protests, but the 30 million-person nation was ready for unrest due to years of economic stagnation and pervasive corruption. Before Oli, the 73-year-old former premier, was removed, Parliament, courts, and government buildings were set on fire. In order to guide the Himalayan country to elections, Karki, who is also 73, was named interim prime minister.
