The Army was called out and a curfew imposed on parts of Kathmandu Friday after two people were killed and 30 injured as pro-monarchy protesters pelted stones, attacked the office of a political party, set fire to vehicles and looted shops. Earlier, clashes erupted between pro-monarchists and police in Kathmandu as protesters demanded the restoration of the monarchy. According to witnesses, the police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse pro-monarchist demonstrators who tried to break barricades set by security forces in the capital city. In the wake of the protests, a curfew has been imposed in Kathmandu’s Tinkune, Sinamangal, and Koteshwor areas.
Nearly seventeen years ago – on May 28, 2008, to be exact – Nepal abolished a 239-year-old Hindu monarchy, with Gyanendra Shah as king, and brought the curtain down on a decade-long civil war that had killed over 16,000 people. The Hindu-majority nation was reborn as a federal, secular republic.
On Sunday, thousands campaigned to turn back the clock, demanding the return of Shah amid concerns over political instability, corruption, a cost of living crisis, unemployment, and a lack of economic development. “Come King, save the nation…” was the refrain that rang out as Shah, who had been touring the nation, possibly to feel out the level of support, left the airport in Kathmandu.
“The country faces instability. Prices are high, people are jobless, and there is a lack of education and healthcare,” Rajindra Kunwar, 43, a teacher and a pro-monarchy protester, told AFP, “The law applies to the public… but not politicians. That’s why we need the king.” That “instability” is emphasised by Nepal having had 13 governments since 2008. That slumped after Shah’s power grab in 2005. Anti-monarchy protests broke out in 2006 and Shah was forced to hand over his newly seized authority to the fledgling government.
There were periodic protests calling for the return of the king. Among the more recent, in 2020 The Record Nepal reported mass demonstrations by royalists and Hindu groups, including in the east, which is where the current Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli is from.
