Near Normalcy Returns To Nepal, Rumoured As Dead Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, Wife Of Ex-Premier Jhalanath Khanal Recovering

By Nava Thakuria, New Age Islam 12 September 2025 After two days of political unrest, where the young people hit the streets of Kathmandu and other important urban localities of Nepal demanding accountability to the government, the Himalayan nation has slowly returned to normalcy. Nepal with over 30 million people remains under the control of the government armed forces and the process to appoint an interim premier is underway, even though consensus remains elusive among the protesters themselves. The Army issued a public notice requesting the agitating youth to exercise restraint and help safeguarding the country’s historical, cultural and national heritage along with the lives and properties of Nepali people. Nepali Army chief, General Ashok Raj Sigdel also appealed to the citizens to ignore all kinds of misleading and false information amid the current national situation. He reiterated that the authorities will continue providing timely, transparent and authentic information to the people. Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, Wife Of Ex-Premier Jhalanath Khanal ----- President Ram Chandra Paudel also asked ‘all sides to remain calm and prevent further harm to the nation’. Announcing the acceptance of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s resignation, the octogenarian head of the state also called the agitators to come forward for talks to amicably resolve the emerging crisis. Nepal Parliament has not yet dissolved thus negating the probability of a national election immediately. More amazingly, Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, wife of ex-premier Jhalanath Khanal, who was widely reported as burnt alive, currently recovers in the hospital. The media reports suggested that the protesters set their residence in Kathmandu on fire while she was inside. Rajyalaxmi was even reported succumbing to her burn injuries with no cross-checking by the media outlets (including some established Indian media houses). A convincing source in Kathmandu informed this writer that she is now out of danger. The source also claimed that ousted premier Oli continues to be in the capital. Similarly, the legendary Communist leader and former premier Puspa Kamal Dahal (popularly known as Prachanda) is also seemingly inside Nepal. However, many ministers in the Oli-government resigned and left the country fearing the heat of angry agitators. Nepal’s interior minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned on 8 September 2025 itself taking moral responsibility of 19 unarmed people, mostly youth agitators, killed in police firing. They came out against the government’s sweeping ban on a number of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Youtube, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, Linkedin, Twitter(X), etc. Initially peaceful in nature, the demonstration soon turned violent, following which the police resorted to brutal crackdown leaving over one hundred injured. The police actions flared up the situation and by next day thousands hit the streets of Kathmandu along with Pokhara, Biratnagar, Bharatpur, Butwal, Birgunj, etc. Now they added more demands to prevent corruption in high places and deliver better governance in Nepal. An unprecedented crisis broke out on 9 September as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in public places and started ransacking government buildings including the Parliament, Supreme Court, ministers' office & residences as well as many political party offices. A section of protesters even helped break a number of jails as nearly 5,000 inmates escaped. Finally the Army was deployed and brought the situation under control. However, the two-day violence snatched away the lives of over 50 people leaving over a thousand others injured. The armed forces imposed nationwide restrictions on public movements particularly during the night hours. Some unpleasant visuals surfaced from the birthplace of Lord Buddha, where it was seen the angry dissenters physically abused a number of political personalities including deputy premier Bishnu Prasad Paudel, foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba, former premier Sher Bahadur Deuba along with his wife, etc. The aggressive protesters did not spare the media houses also, as many of them targeted mainstream media groups like Kantipur (which publishes The Kathmandu Post, Nepalese daily Kantipur and nurtures Kantipur news channel) and Annapurna Media Network. Moreover, Kantipur television scribe Shyam Shrestha, Naya Patrika photojournalist Dipendra Dhungana, Nepal Press photographer Umesh Karki, Desh Sanchar photojournalist Barsha Shaha and independent media worker Shambhu Dangal were injured while covering the turmoil on 8 September. Two visiting Indian journalists also faced intimidation during the turmoil, while reporting from the ground. Septuagenarian Oli, who led the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) government (with support from Nepali Congress Party), came to power for the fourth time and upholds his proximity to Beijing while very often making anti-India statements. As the negotiating young generation thoroughly rejected Oli as the interim premier, an intensive search among fresh personalities is going on to lead the government. Nepal’s first female chief justice of the Supreme Court, Sushila Karki, who is an alumna of Banaras Hindu University, is front runner for the post. Popular technocrat Kulman Ghising, a master degree holder in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University and current Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah also remains in the fray. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his concern over turmoil in the northern neighbour. Terming the violence in Nepal as heart-rending, he condoled the demise of many young people in the conflict. “The stability, peace and prosperity of Nepal are of utmost importance to us. I humbly appeal to all my brothers and sisters in Nepal to support peace,” he added. The external affairs ministry issued a safety advisory for Indian citizens in Nepal urging them to remain indoors, avoid venturing onto the streets, and exercise heightened caution. It also recommended Indian nationals to defer any travel to Nepal until the situation got normalized. United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres also urged the agitators to avoid a further escalation of violence. UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk commented that he was appalled by the escalating violence in Nepal that has left multiple people dead, hundreds of mostly young protesters injured, and widespread destruction of property. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/normalcy-nepal-rumoured-dead-rajya-laxmi/d/136807 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism