The CPI(ML) Liberation has expressed outrage over the recent deadly crackdown on youth-led protests in Nepal, which has escalated into a nationwide political crisis.
On September 8, demonstrations erupted across Nepal in response to the government’s sweeping ban on 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, YouTube, and X, alongside widespread corruption among political elites. The protests, largely driven by young people mobilising against both social media restrictions and systemic corruption, were met with brutal state repression. At least 19 protesters were killed and many more injured, marking one of the darkest days in Nepal’s recent democratic history.
The following day, September 9, Nepal witnessed further unrest. Massive crowd violence and acts of arson engulfed the capital, including the parliament building, with numerous leaders and their families across party lines targeted. Some protesters continued to assert that the movement seeks peaceful change, while blaming “external agitators” for the escalation and appealing to the army to enforce curfews to maintain public order.
The party also condemned both the blanket social media ban and attacks on anti-corruption protests as assaults on fundamental democratic rights, warning that Nepal’s journey from monarchy to republican democracy is at risk. It added that “respecting and expanding the democratic rights of the people is the only way to strengthen Nepal’s democracy and honour the sacrifices made in the country’s long struggle for democracy,” calling for “an immediate end to repression, justice for the victims, and accountability for those responsible.”
CPI(ML) Liberation, in its statement, said that while respecting the Nepali youth and people's right to fight against corruption and determine the future of Nepal, we are deeply concerned by the escalating violence and continuing loss of lives. The party added that it hopes “the people of Nepal succeed in restoring peace and work out a negotiated transition that does not undermine republican secular democracy in Nepal.”
The statement further highlighted that “Nepal had succeeded in abolishing the monarchy and making a transition to parliamentary democracy largely under the leadership of communists, but ironically today communists seem to be the immediate target of the youth unrest against corruption, nepotism and autocracy.”
CPI(ML) Liberation expressed hope that “the people of Nepal will guard against any attempt to restore the monarchy and undermine the sovereignty of this Himalayan republic and communists of Nepal will succeed in overcoming this juncture and renewing their role as the most credible force of democracy, progress and people's welfare.”
