KATHMANDU, NEPAL — Nearly two decades after Nepal cast off its monarchy and declared itself a federal republic, the country is once again in turmoil.
Protests and riots rocked Kathmandu in early September after the government banned 26 social media platforms for what authorities said was a failure to comply with registration requirements. Those riots, though in part over concerns about freedom of expression, were also a show of anger over government corruption and dissatisfaction with the ruling class. So far, at least 73 people have died from injuries sustained during the unrest.
Many protesters were simply angry at the current administration — and one result of the protests was the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. But many sought more drastic change: a return to the monarchy and the restoration of Hinduism as the state religion.
It’s not the first time public resentment has spilled over. In March and again on May 29 — Nepal’s Republic Day — thousands took to the streets, calling for the return of the king.
The movements have drawn from different crowds and come with different demands, but they point to a deepening frustration with Nepal’s political order, says Chandra Dev Bhatta, a political analyst. What people are asking for, he says, is a change in the country’s system and reforms.
In the 17 years since abolishing the monarchy, the country has cycled through 16 governments. Pro-monarchists say none have delivered on the promises that inspired the republic in the first place.
“Inflation has pushed the poor and voiceless even further down,” Shyamsundar Acharya says.
Acharya is 23 years old — too young to remember life under a Nepali kingdom. But he’s heard his grandmother’s stories. A monarchy ensured basic human rights, he says.
Since he moved to Kathmandu for school three years ago, Acharya says, he’s had extreme financial difficulties.
“Even in a big city like Nepal’s capital, there are no real employment opportunities,” he says. “A king cares for his people, but political parties only look after their loyal cadres.”
But some believe a return to the crown would not cure Nepal’s problems. Bhavisha Malla, whose husband was one of two people who died during the pro-monarchy protests on March 28, says Nepal’s problems stem from the dysfunction of those in power.
“Whether the country is ruled by a king or a republic, it doesn’t matter,” she says. Her husband, a 27-year-old driver, left their home in Kathmandu the morning of the March protests to get his car repaired before work. He joined the protests.
Hours later, he was dead, shot by police, she says.
“Both systems have not given justice to our family,” she says.
From kingdom to republic
For more than 200 years, kings ruled Nepal. They often resisted reforms and rolled back democratic advances.
In 1960, King Mahendra dismissed the country’s first elected government, banned political parties and ruled directly for the next three decades. Although protests in 1990 forced a multiparty democracy, the monarchy continued to act above the constitution.
At the same time, frustration with inequality and state neglect fueled a decadelong Maoist insurgency that left at least 13,000 dead and 1,300 missing.
Then, in 2001, most of the royal family — including then-King Birendra — was massacred in the palace. His brother, Gyanendra, became king, but he never earned the public’s trust. In 2005, he dismissed the government and took absolute power. Protests erupted across the country.
In a dramatic shift, the Maoists and the mainstream political parties, which had long been at odds, united in opposition to the king. Two years later, a newly-elected assembly voted to abolish the centuries-old monarchy and declared Nepal a secular federal republic.
‘Everything is just rumors’
Ram Prasad Upreti, who helped lead the 2006 People’s Movement, says he remembers marching against the king, calling him a murderer and traitor who should leave the country.
Back then, Upreti says, he believed a new political system would bring jobs for the youth, economic development and a government that genuinely represented the people.
But that hasn’t been the case. Leaders who fought for the new system and once lived modestly became wealthy and alienated the people, he says.
The country struggles with unemployment. In 2024, unemployment among young people stood at about 10.7%. Each day, about 1,500 young Nepalis leave the country for work. In 2024, the money they sent home comprised of more than 25% of the country’s gross domestic product.
Widespread corruption has worsened the economic challenges. Nepal ranks 107 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. About 84% of people in the country think government corruption is a major problem, according to Transparency International.
The monarchy, says Upreti, who has been marching for its return, could be a unifying institution.
“A country is not just its land. It’s also its religion and culture. The monarchy unites all of these,” he says.
For Bahadur Singh, who traveled from Doti district to attend the pro-monarchy protests in May, it’s about justice for his family. The 68-year-old says in 2001, Maoist fighters set his three houses on fire. They killed his eldest wife and tied his youngest, who was pregnant, to a tree. She miscarried. Then, he says, they threw his 3-year-old son into the forest. The son survived but was scarred.
The republic promised justice and established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 to investigate these human rights violations, but little has been done to ensure that justice is served.
“We thought that everyone would get justice, but everything is just rumors,” says Bahadur, who believes a monarchy could restore justice. “We experienced the republic, but the exploitation did not stop.”
Bahadur believes a king would work for the people.
But for Sushil Nepali, a 24-year-old student from Sindhupalchowk, the current system works just fine. In fact, he says, it’s a significant improvement from the monarchy days, when caste discrimination was deeply embedded and Dalits like him were prohibited from accessing sacred texts like the Vedas and the Gita.
Although not much has changed, he says he no longer accepts it in silence. The Maoist movement that ushered in the change, he says, gave marginalized communities like his the courage to resist oppression.
A functioning republic?
Part of the problem is that there have been no real steps to establish a functioning republic, says Ram Karki, who spent 10 years underground during the Maoist insurgency and was later minister of information between August 2016 and May 2017.
He says instead of building a truly new political system as many had hoped, the former Maoist leadership conformed to the practices of traditional parties.
Frequent changes in leadership and shifting alliances have also made it difficult for any government to stay in power long enough to deliver on its promises, says Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, the senior leader of Nepal’s Communist Party and the former minister of foreign affairs and culture, tourism and civil aviation.
“When governments are unstable, the policies they implement are also unstable and ineffective, which ultimately hampers service delivery and development efforts,” he says.
In a way, Gyawali adds, “the Maoist armed conflict set Nepal back significantly.”
After the 2006 peace agreement, he says, it took another decade to complete the transition, which ended with the 2015 constitution. The years of war and its aftermath limited the country’s development and resources, he says. A major earthquake and the pandemic slowed progress, too.
But Gyawali points to significant wins. By July this year, all 77 district headquarters in Nepal were connected by road, and electricity now reaches 99% of the population — up from just 58% in 2016. Poverty has dropped dramatically, too: More than half the population was poor in 1995, but projections for this year put it below 6%. Extreme poverty, according to World Bank data, is almost eradicated.
“Public expectations are high,” he says, adding that “royalists have used this discontent to their own advantage.” This, he says, is an attempt by the monarchists to regain power.
To some, the longing for the monarchy feels like nostalgia for a system that was no less broken. Political analyst Krishna Pokharel says the monarchy’s abolition was the result of its authoritarian actions, democratic movements and the Maoist insurgency.
And these attempts to bring back the king, he says, only hinder genuine democracy. It’s unrealistic to expect that people will accept its restoration, especially when an ordinary citizen can now become president. People just want leaders who can perform better than current leaders, he says.
Demands for justice
Restoring the monarchy would call for constitutional changes, says Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional scholar. That process would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament and a public referendum.
That’s highly unlikely, says former government spokesperson Prithvi Subba Gurung. “A monarchy will not come if a few people jump up and down,” he says. This pro-monarchy movement, Gurung adds, lacks legitimacy and is unlikely to gain momentum.
Whether systems shift or not, Malla, whose husband died during the protests in March, says all she wants is justice for his death. She hopes the government will form a committee to investigate her husband’s murder. Instead of expressing condolences, she says, the government instead “put a price tag” on her husband by offering her 1 million Nepali rupees (US$7,048) in compensation.
“Is my husband worth only 1 million?” she says.
These days, her daughter comes home from school in tears, begging to be taken to her father. Malla says, “I can only give her my own tears.”
