Nepal – Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has resigned after massive protests by young people who demonstrated against the ban of social media, high level corruption and nepotism.
At least 19 people are dead while hundreds have been injured.
”I have resigned from the post of prime minister with effect from today,” said KP Sharma Oli in a letter.
Police in Nepal used lethal force to suppress youth protests on September 8, 2025, that killed at least 19 people and injured over 300, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
“The police shooting of demonstrators in Kathmandu and across Nepal shows the administration’s appalling disregard for the lives of its own citizens and desperate need to suppress criticism,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The authorities need to hold those responsible for these killings to account instead of upholding the culture of impunity that has allowed the security forces to get away with murder.”
The government’s social media ban appeared to have little effect, Human Rights Watch said. Graphic footage that appears to show police shooting peaceful protesters, some in school or college uniforms, quickly circulated online. Some protesters were struck by bullets to the head.
Discontent in Nepal, among young people in particular, appears to have been building for some time against corruption and nepotism by the political elite.
The protests gained momentum after the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology issued a sweeping directive on September 4 to ban 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, X, and YouTube, saying that they had failed to register with the authorities by a deadline on September 3.