Nepal protest movement ‘hijacked by different interest groups’, political scientist says

Nepal protest movement ‘hijacked by different interest groups’, political scientist says

Because residents in Catmandeue are now under curfew as the city reels from days of violent clashes and widespread arson. Soldiers have been deployed to patrol the streets in a bid to restore calm. The death toll has risen to 25 people, including 19 killed on Monday when police used tear gas and rubber bullets against youthled demonstrations. While the turmoil has forced Prime Minister Shama Oi to resign, protesters are demanding action against corruption and economic inequality. A controversial social media ban has now also sparked uh the latest outrage, but it has been reversed. Eliza Herberts has the very latest. Nepal remains under curfew. Troops are patrolling the streets, threatening to crack down without hesitation on any new demonstrations or acts of vandalism. Burnt out cars and buildings remain, serving as a reminder of the public’s anger, which has not completely subsided despite Tuesday’s resignation of Prime Minister Sharma Ali. They ruled for several years. They deceived the poor and spend citizens money for their own profit. Despite the damage, it’s a historic revolution that’s awakened me and my compatriots. Everything will change with the fall of the government. From now on, citizens will get their fair share. The Gen Zed protest movement began in response to a social media ban, nepotism, and corruption among the elite. It was build as peaceful, but quickly turned deadly when on Monday, police officers opened fire on demonstrators. In turn, the protest grew increasingly violent and by Tuesday, government buildings and politicians homes had been set a light. Several figures are being considered to replace the outgoing prime minister until elections are held, including former Supreme Court President Sushil Khaki, who protest leaders said Wednesday is their preferred candidate. This is only an interim government because our country is faced with so many threats. We can’t let an army rule and we need to protect democracy. [Music] Authorities say that more than 13,500 prisoners took advantage of the political instability to escape from prison. A volatile situation which also has China concerned and hoping its neighbor can restore order and national stability as soon as possible. Well, let’s bring in Sandra Deva who is a political scientist who joins us now from Kmandu by phone. Sandra, we have soldiers on the streets of Katmandeue. Thousands of protesters also what have the last few days been like for you in the city? Uh the last few days have been really chaotic for Nepal. uh you know as as almost more than 30 persons have already lost their life and the city is under curfew. Uh there are a lots of youths in the streets you know the major administrative buildings have been burnt and a lot the top political leaders have been chased out and they have been handed over to the security officials by the people from the generation judge. Uh it’s really chaotic. We really don’t know how things will unfold in the days to come. But as uh of today the uh the Jenz Jed have prop proposed former Chief Justice Sushi Khi as their favorite candidate for the prime minister. But there are some legal issues as well, constitutional issues as well with regard to her appointment as as the prime minister because we still have got a parliament in place. uh then we cannot the constitution does not allow anybody to become a prime minister outside of the the constitutional framework. So there are some legal hurdles on it. Uh but the president will have to be I think president can come up with certain solutions along with the Nepal army now who is playing a crucial role in forming the next government in Kathmandu but it still it’s it looks very very uh very very uncertain how the days will unfold. There are the the protesters are also divided along different lines and their pro their protest in fact has been hijacked by the the interest group different types of interest group. There were political leaders as well in the protest. There were people from the Mauist party. There were pro monarchist uh people as well. So different actors ultimately have have hijacked the the the protest initiated uh initially by the young people of Nepal. Well, one of their key grieviances among the protesters is uh corruption. They say that there’s uh a lot of corruption going on. There’s the trend uh Nepo baby that’s gone viral on social media accusing government ministers of using taxpayers monies to fund uh a lavish lifestyle for their children. Is there any truth in that? Uh that’s in fact that has been going for a long period of time. In fact, Nepal has witnessed a series of political in instabilities over the period of time. uh if you remember last year one of the famous newspaper from France itself declared Nepal as a champion of political instability. On top of the instability there has been huge corruptions and those you know who are closely affiliated with political parties have been reaping the benefits in one way or the other others but youth at large will have to uh they did not have any opportunities within the countries. If you look at almost 2,500 plus youth have been leaving the country for their livelihood outside. Uh so uh this has been building on for a long period of time. But the the current problem arised when prime minister KP Sharma put ban on social media and uh they in fact that irritated youth and they come out they came out in the street. So their initial demand was to end the corruptions the rampant corruption which has been going on country for four decades and they were also uh you know they also wanted bans to be lifted on the social media rather than doing that prime minister choose to use force and that that derailed the uh situation in Kathandu and led to the violence of the scale which has never been witnessed in the Well, Sandra, I did want to ask you about that ban on social media. Why did the government put that in place in the first place? I think the government was quite, you know, quite worried about its own its own work. The in on the popularity of the government was declining day by day. Uh but government still wanted to convey the message that it is doing the work and there are some political reasons as well. the sheep and UML party who was in power was having its its conventions and there were some problems within the party which they did not really you know they wanted to put some sort of ban on their own caddles as well. So they introduced uh this ban on social media primarily for their own interest and on top of that they re basically wanted to you know the the the the suppress the voice of the people as well. Apart from that they have said that the the the social media companies like Facebook X Facebook and X are required to register in Nepal as per the law of the land but they were not doing it and this was also the uh there was also the the the the verdict given by the Supreme Court of Nepal that anybody who is any company who is operating in Nepal will have to be registered with the with the concern authorities of the government but there were no proper laws to do to do that. That’s why they were reluctant to uh to register as well. The the officials of the ex said that we don’t want to register in a country where corruption is rampant. So there were multiple factors working together. Sandra, it was really great to get those explanations from you. Thank you so much for joining us on the program uh today on Prime Paris. Thank you.

Nepal’s army took back control of Kathmandu on Wednesday after the worst violence in two decades ousted the prime minister and left the parliament ablaze, enforcing a curfew and starting talks with protest leaders. Speaking on FRANCE 24 from Kathmandu, Political Scientist Chandra Dev Bhatta says that the outlook is very uncertain as protesters are divided and the movement has been hijacked by various interest groups.
#Nepal #protests #SocialMedia

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