Nepal’s PM urges calm as three people killed after Hindu-Muslim unrest

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing AFP, reported that Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah appealed for calm after communal violence in the country’s south left three people dead. In a national address on Thursday, Shah urged citizens, religious groups, political parties, civil society and media to show restraint and support peace and national unity after several days of unrest.

According to the report, the violence started on Sunday in a village in Sunsari district, near the Indian border, following a dispute involving some Hindus and Muslims over loud music and religious flags during a Hindu procession. Police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said officers fired to disperse a crowd, killing two men. A third person died on Thursday during a protest in nearby Siraha district, where a curfew was already in effect. A Reuters image published with the story showed smoke and fire rising from a vandalised mall in Siraha on July 30.

Authorities have imposed curfews in Sunsari and neighbouring areas in an effort to stop further clashes. Shah said the government would conduct a fair and transparent investigation and that people found responsible would face justice. Kafle told AFP police personnel had been placed on alert, with efforts focused on protecting public property and avoiding further confrontations while using minimal force.

The unrest is significant because it highlights communal tensions in Nepal’s southern border region, where sizeable Muslim communities live within a country whose population is predominantly Hindu. Al Jazeera noted that Shah, who took office in March, has seldom appeared publicly and that this was his first major address to the nation.