Riot police have used batons and tear fuel to halt tens of hundreds of supporters of Nepal’s former king who tried to march to the middle of the capital to demand the restoration of the monarchy
ByBINAJ GURUBACHARYA Related Press
November 23, 2023, 5:56 AM
Protesters conflict with police in a rally demanding a restoration of Nepal’s monarchy in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. Riot police used batons and tear fuel to halt tens of hundreds of supporters of Nepal’s former king demanding the restoration of the monarchy and the nation’s former standing as a Hindu state. Weeks of avenue protests in 2006 compelled then King Gyanendra to desert his authoritarian rule and introduce democracy. (AP Photograph/Niranjan Shrestha)
The Related Press
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Riot police used batons and tear fuel to halt tens of hundreds of supporters of Nepal’s former king who tried to march to the middle of the capital on Thursday to demand the restoration of the monarchy and the nation’s former standing as a Hindu state.
The protesters, waving the nationwide flag and chanting slogans supporting former King Gyanendra, gathered on the sting of Kathmandu and tried to maneuver towards the middle of the town. Riot police blocked them, beating them with bamboo batons and firing tear fuel and a water cannon. There have been minor accidents on each side.
Authorities had banned protests in key areas of the town previous to the rally.
“We love our king and nation greater than our lives. Convey again the monarchy. Abolish the republic,” the gang chanted.
Supporters of the previous king got here to Kathmandu from everywhere in the nation to demand the return of the monarchy that was abolished in 2008. They accused the federal government and political events of corruption and failed governance.
Weeks of avenue protests in 2006 compelled then-King Gyanendra to desert his authoritarian rule and introduce democracy.
Two years later, a newly elected parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and declared Nepal a republic with a president as head of state.
Since then, Gyanendra has been residing as a non-public citizen with no energy or state safety. He nonetheless has some help among the many individuals however little likelihood of returning to energy.
The demonstrators additionally demanded that Nepal be turned again right into a Hindu state. The Himalayan nation was declared a secular state in 2007 by an interim structure.