Nepal: Infiltration of vested groups destroyed public and private properties, says GenZ leader

Kathmandu, Sep 9 (IANS)

KP Khanal, one of the GenZ leaders who called for protests against corruption and a ban on social media apps, said that the infiltration of vested groups during the movement resulted in violence that left nearly two dozen people dead in two days. Even though the movement succeeded in bringing down the widely unpopular government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Khanal said he and his volunteer friends were fully against the vandalism and torching of government and private buildings.

Enraged by the killing of the 19 people in police firing on Monday, protestors vandalised important state buildings, including Singh Durbar, the main administrative centre of the government, the president’s office, the Supreme Court building, houses of the top political leaders, including that of Prime Minister Oli, who resigned on Tuesday and the headquarters of major political parties. Likewise, offices and business outlets of some of the important business houses and corporate bodies were also set on fire, igniting fears among the masses. Kathmandu saw smoke coming out from different parts of the city.

“We were organising a peaceful protest and the crowd became bigger and bigger, and some people from the crowd started to attack the parliamentary building, inviting excessive use of force by police, resulting in the deaths of several people,” he said.

“We have not supported the attacks on the public and private properties on Tuesday, but some vested interest groups might be involved in attacks on those properties in the name of GenZ movement."