Nepal‘s government is investigating fatal violence during a rally by former king’s supporters demanding the restoration of a constitutional monarchy, a minister said on Saturday.
Two people were killed on Friday and at least 112 injured, including 77 security officials, authorities said, after police used force to stop the stone-throwing crowd from marching towards the parliament building in the capital Kathmandu.
During the hour-long violence, pro-monarchy protesters vandalised homes, shops, a hospital, a political party office, vehicles and a shopping mall and snatched a weapon from the police, the authorities in Nepal said.
“This is sheer vandalism, arson, looting and anarchy. It cannot be a protest,” cabinet spokesman Prithvi Subba Gurung, the minister of communication and information technology, told Reuters.
Curfew Imposed
Local media reported that authorities imposed a curfew in Kathmandu after the pro-monarchy protesters turned violent and engaged in arson and vandalism across multiple areas.
Nepal Police deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators after they attempted to breach security barricades.
As the situation spiraled out of control in Kathmandu’s Tinkune area, police fired blank rounds to regain control, while thousands of pro-monarchy demonstrators chanted slogans like “Raja aau desh bachau” (May the King come to save the country), “Down with the corrupt government,” and “We want monarchy back,” demanding the monarchy’s reinstatement in Nepal, according to local media reports.
Rishiram Tiwari, Kathmandu’s chief district officer, said 105 protesters, including some pro-monarchy leaders, were taken into custody.
Nepal’s Abolished Monarchy
Nepal’s 239-year-old monarchy was abolished in 2008 by a specially elected assembly as part of a deal with Maoist former rebels, ending an insurgency that killed 17,000 people between 1996 and 2006.
The last king, 77-year-old Gyanendra, lives as a commoner with his family in a private house in Kathmandu.
Political instability has rocked Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, with 14 governments since the abolition of the monarchy, hampering economic growth and discouraging investment.
Public frustration has risen over the failure of successive governments to deliver on commitments to develop the economy of the country, a natural buffer between Asian giants China and India.
(With inputs from Reuters)
