Nepal parliament set on fire after PM resigns over anti-corruption protests

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned in the midst of Nepal’s worst unrest as the people’s anger increased on the deaths of 19 years old Anti -corruption protesters in clashes with the police on Monday.

On Tuesday, the crowds opened fire on the parliament in the capital Katmantu and sent a thick black smoke to the sky. Government buildings and homes of political leaders were attacked throughout the country.

Three more deaths were reported on Tuesday. In the middle of the chaos, prison officials said that 900 prisoners managed to escape from two prisons in the western regions of Nepal.

The demonstrations were triggered by a prohibition on social media platforms. It was removed on Monday – but until then, protests became a mass movement.

The Nepal Army Chief made a statement on Tuesday, accusing the demonstrators of damaging public and private properties, plundering and creating a fire.

If the restlessness persists, “all security institutions, including the Nepal army, are determined to seize the control of the situation”, which applies to local hours (16:15 GMT; 17:15 BST) without elaborating what it might be.

When the Prime Minister resigned, it is not clear that nobody is responsible for the seemingly – or that the next step will replace. Some leaders, including ministers, reportedly took refuge in security forces.

So far, the protesters have not expressed their demands other than gathering under a wider call for fighting corruption. Protests appear spontaneously without an organized leadership.

In the parliament, hundreds of protesters dancing and at the entrance of the building, there were joyful scenes while chanting slogans around a fire, many of them holding the slogans holding the flag of Nepal.

Some of them entered the building where all the windows were torn apart. Graffiti and anti -government messages are painted on the exterior.

The 20 -year -old Muna Shresh, who lives in Katmantu, was among the major crowds outside the parliament.

He told the BBC that corruption is a long -term issue and said that “our nation, our prime minister and everyone in power have changed because we need to change.”

“Now it happened and we are happy to witness it and fight for it. I hope this change will bring us something positive.”

Shresh thinks that employees’ taxes should be used to help the country grow.

Last week, the Nepal government ordered authorities to block 26 social media platforms because they did not comply with a deadline.

On platforms like Instagram and Facebook, there are millions of users who trust them for entertainment, news and business.

The government justified its ban on the name of fake news, hate speech and online fraud.

However, the youth criticized the movement as an attack on free speech.

Although the forbidden Monday night was hurriedly lifted, the protests had already gained an unstoppable acceleration, targeted the political elite and immersed the nation into chaos.

A government minister said they had removed the ban after an emergency meeting to “meet Gen Z’s demands” late on Monday night.

In the weeks before the ban, a “Nepo Kid” campaign that emphasized the generous lifestyles of politicians’s children and allegations of corruption began on social media.

Thousands of young people first tried to launch the Parliament Building on Monday. A few regions were banned from curfews. Most of the deaths occurred around the parliament and government buildings that day.

On Tuesday, the protests continued without slowing down. A crowd in Kathmandu burned the center of the Nepal Congress Party and leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, a part of the administrative coalition.

The 73 -year -old 73 -year -old, who led the communist party, was set on fire of Prime Minister KP Oli.

He said he resigned to the current crisis to pave the way for a constitutional solution.

“Given the negative situation in the country, I resigned today to facilitate the solution and help to solve politically in accordance with the constitution,” Oli said in a letter to President Ramchandra Paudel.

The Reuters news agency, who helped Paudel, said that the president accepted resignation and began “processes and discussions for a new leader”.