Nepal PM calls for calm after latest clashes
Nepal's prime minister has appealed for calm after clashes erupted between young activists and loyalists of the former ruling party that was overthrown in a deadly uprising in September.
Police said today (20 November) calm had returned to Simara, a town in Nepal's southern Bara district, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Kathmandu, a day after clashes between rival protesters.
At least 76 people were killed during demonstrations on 8 and 9 September that were triggered by anger over a brief government ban on social media and led by protesters under the loose "Gen Z" umbrella title.
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Gen Z members and supporters of ousted former prime minister KP Sharma Oli's Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) both held rallies in Simara on Wednesday.
Scuffles broke out, some close to the airport, which prompted authorities to impose a curfew.
"The situation is normal," Nepal police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told AFP on Thursday. "No one was severely injured."
Sushila Karki, the former chief justice who was appointed interim prime minister after the September uprising, called on all parties to "refrain from unwanted political provocation", and to trust the democratic process ahead of elections set for 5 March 2026.
"I have directed the Home Administration and security agencies to work with utmost restraint and preparation to maintain peace and order," Karki said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
She said she wanted to "ensure the safe movement of leaders of all political parties, and create a fair and fear-free environment for the elections".
Karki also held a meeting on Wednesday with representatives of more than 110 parties.
"We want this country to be in the hands of a new generation and to be managed by people with vision," she told the meeting.
The September demonstrations were triggered by the former government's social media ban, but anger ran much deeper after years of economic stagnation and entrenched corruption that primed the country of 30 million people for upheaval.
Parliament, courts and government offices were torched before four-time premier Oli, 73, was ousted.
Karki, also 73, was appointed interim prime minister to lead the Himalayan nation to the polls.
