Overview

• The government blocked 26 platforms on September 4 over registration rules, later announcing a reversal as streets filled with demonstrators.
• Gen Z–led protests rapidly turned violent with arson, looting, and assaults on state institutions and politicians’ residences across multiple cities.
• Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli stepped down and the army and security forces were sent into cities to reassert control.
• Casualty counts remain disputed, with reports of roughly 19–22 deaths and hundreds injured, and Tribhuvan International Airport is shut with flights canceled.
• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly appealed for peace, actress Manisha Koirala condemned the bloodshed, and analysts noted the presence of armed elements and possible political opportunism.