Kathmandu: At least 19 people were killed and more than 300 others injured on Monday after police used force during protests by youths that rocked the Nepalese capital and other parts of the country over the government’s ban on social media sites, officials said.
Thousands of youths, including school students, under the banner of Gen Z, converged in front of Parliament in the heart of Kathmandu and shouted anti-government slogans demanding immediate revocation of the ban. The protests spread to Pokhara, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Bharatpur, Itahari and Damak.
Cabinet spokesman and Minister of Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung said early on Tuesday that the government had rolled back the social media ban imposed last week.
“We have withdrawn the shutdown of the social media. They are working now,” Gurung told the Reuters news agency.
The ban had blocked 26 media sites, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, in a bid by the government to tackle misinformation, fraud and hate speech.
Nepal’s Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday as nationwide protests over corruption and political mismanagement escalated into violence, leaving several dead and scores injured. His office said he stepped down to “pave the way for a constitutional solution” to the crisis.
Events turned deadly in Kathmandu when police fired live rounds and deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannon, and batons as protesters attempted to storm the Parliament complex.
Seventeen protesters were killed in Kathmandu, and two others were killed in a protest in the city of Itahari.
Across Nepal, more than 100 people were injured, with some estimates putting the figure as high as 400, including police officers.
The government said late on Monday that it would set up an investigation panel and offer compensation to the families of people killed in the protests.
