Nepal PM Resigns Amid Deadly Youth Protests Over Social Media Ban

Nepal’s Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, has resigned following violent nationwide protests sparked by a government-imposed social media ban, widespread corruption, and limited economic opportunities.

The demonstrations, led predominantly by young people aged 13 to 28 — Nepal’s Generation Z — have left at least 19 people dead and hundreds injured, according to Reuters. Security forces confronted protesters with live ammunition, water cannons, and tear gas across multiple cities.

Despite a curfew in central Kathmandu, crowds returned to the streets after authorities lifted the social media ban. Reuters images showed demonstrators setting fire to a police booth and furniture outside the offices of the Nepali Congress, the country’s largest political party. The international airport in Kathmandu was also temporarily shut down amid the unrest.

In Chandrapur, south of the capital, police fired warning shots as residents defied the curfew, and a police vehicle was torched, local officials reported.

Oli’s resignation letter, shared online by a senior aide, cited “the extraordinary situation” facing the country. Nepal, a nation of 30 million, has experienced chronic political instability, having seen over a dozen governments since becoming a republic in 2008 after abolishing its 239-year-old monarchy following a decade-long civil war.

Observers describe the current wave of protests as the most serious unrest Nepal has faced in decades, highlighting the frustration of a politically active youth population demanding accountability and change.