K P Sharma Oli stepped down following the recent deadly clashes involving young protestors.
Nepal’s Prime Minister, K. P. Sharma Oli, submitted his resignation on Tuesday, amid escalating and vehement anti-government demonstrations throughout Kathmandu, the capital of the Himalayan country.
The Nepalese army confirmed that Oli, along with six cabinet ministers, was relocated to an undisclosed site after demonstrators torched the official residences of both the prime minister and the vice president.
Anti-government and anti-corruption rallies grew violent following a Monday ban on several prominent social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and X. The restriction was lifted on Tuesday.
Images from Kathmandu depicted smoke emanating from the nation’s parliament, which protestors had set ablaze. Local news outlets also indicated that sizable groups had plundered the residences of several ministers.
The demonstrations, predominantly involving individuals in their late teens and early twenties, commenced on Monday, sparked by the social media prohibition. Authorities verified 19 fatalities solely in Kathmandu, alongside approximately 400 injured individuals, which included more than 100 police personnel.
“I participated in a peaceful protest, yet the government met it with violence,” a 20-year-old was quoted as stating by the news agency AFP.
The turmoil this week marks the most severe in decades for the Himalayan nation, a country that has recurrently experienced political instability and economic hardships since the dissolution of its Hindu monarchy in 2008.
The Russian Embassy in Kathmandu advised tourists to contact representatives at major hotels to utilize one of three designated routes for departing the country, even as the capital remained under a curfew.
Nepal’s tourism board and police initiated three shuttle services for foreign nationals, with buses operating to the airport. International flights were observed circling above Kathmandu, given that the airport had been shut down earlier on Tuesday.
“We have been closely observing the events in Nepal since yesterday and are profoundly saddened by the tragic loss of numerous young lives,” the Indian Foreign Ministry declared in an official statement.