KATHMANDU: Protesters in Nepal took to the streets again on Tuesday morning, a day after the country lifted a social media ban that led to clashes between protesters and police in which at least 19 people died, according to local media.
The Kathmandu District Administration Office imposed an indefinite curfew inside the Ring Road area of the Nepalese capital, reintroducing restrictions just hours after an earlier order was lifted, the Himalayan Times reported today.
The previous curfew imposed yesterday, which expired at 5 am today, was replaced by the fresh order taking effect at 8:30 am.
Protestors were seen today blocking roads outside the Nepal Parliament and in Kalanki, among other places, Kathmandu Post said.
The move comes after security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Kathmandu and Itahari on Monday, leaving at least 19 dead and hundreds injured, making it the deadliest crackdown on civilian protests in recent years, according to the Himalayan Times.
The protesters are demonstrating against what they see as the authoritarian attitude of the government and said they won’t stop until Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigns.
One of the protesters today told ANI, “Yesterday, many students were killed and the Prime Minister of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli, should leave the nation…Students should continue to raise their voice…”
A retired Nepal Army Colonel Madhav Sundar Khadga said, “I was also working on the mega campaign against corruption for six months. My son was with me yesterday…I was in a different area near my home. I called him up three times, he did not receive the call. After 4 pm, the phone was switched off. Then I came here…I came to the Police but they hit me…I want the President to dissolve this Government…”
As per the Nepal government, at least 19 people who died over 250 people were injured in the yesterday’s protest that also took place in places outside Kathmandu.
A decision to lift the ban on social media sites was made after an emergency cabinet meeting late on Monday. The ban was put in place last week on sites which did not comply with a deadline to register with Nepal’s ministry of communication and information technology.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli issued a statement late on Monday evening announced that the social media ban that was put in place last week has been lifted. In the statement, Oli rather blamed “infiltration by various vested interest groups”behind Monday’s violence.
The government would set up a panel to investigate the protests, Oli said and added the government would offer financial “relief” to victims and provide free treatment to those injured.(ANI)
