Violent protests erupt in Nepal

Violent protests broke out on Thursday in at least four of the seven provinces of Nepal a day after the government announced temporary provincial capitals. Several people have been injured in clashes between the protestors and security forces, public property vandalised and roads blocked, prompting the authorities to impose a curfew in Province 1 in the easternmost part of the country.

"People have been barred from coming out of their houses from 11.30 a.m. to control further loss," Prem Prakash Uprety, Chief District Officer in Dhankuta, told Efe news agency. Local officials told Efe that at least three people were injured in clashes in that province and acts of vandalism reported in Dhankuta after the government named Biratnagar as the provincial capital.

In Dang, in Central Province 5, demonstrators blocked roads, torched effigies of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and forced the closure of schools and markets in protest of the government's decision to name Butwal as the capital of the province.

"Our protest will continue unless the decision is corrected," Sabin Priyasan, a member of the committee coordinating the demonstration in Dang, which, according to the demonstrators, is better located and more accessible than Butwal, told Efe. Dilli Ram Sharma, a spokesperson of the Prime Minister's Office, told Efe that the government's decision is still not final.

"The provincial assemblies can change the headquarters if they are not appropriate. So it's better people wait for the final decision by the assemblies rather than indulging in protest," Sharma said. Nepal concluded historic General Elections last month which put an end to 18 years of legislative interregnum and made way for a new bicameral parliament approved in the constitution of 2015.