Stand With the Youth of Nepal! Stand Against the Imperialist Puppets!

Statement of the ILPS on the Developing Situation in Nepal

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The International League of Peoples’ Struggle stands with the youth and all people of Nepal protesting militantly for an end to government corruption, while condemning the monarchist and other pro-imperialist forces that hijacked the people’s movement to fill the vacuum of a new repressive regime.

Protests began when the government of Nepal placed a ban on social media in the country. This, however, was just one grievance after many years of corruption and distancing from the masses on behalf of the government. The youth-led protests that took to the streets were demanding political change and to have their voices once again respected by their elected leaders. This movement carried on the proud legacy of the mass movement behind the people’s war that successfully ended the Nepalese monarchy after centuries of feudal rule and ushered in a truly secular, independent government that began implementing democratic reforms.

However, the protest movement was immediately hijacked by the police and other state forces who began cracking down on the people. At least 51 people have been killed and over 500 injured, including the largest massacre in a single day in all of Nepal’s history. The army then paved the way for a new interim government with strong ties to the US and Western financial interests which immediately dissolved the whole parliament instead of expressing any intention for compromise, negating the decades-long fight for a democratic republic in Nepal even prior to the People’s War. While this was happening, the offices of other parties in the country were burned all over the country, including the government headquarters, federal parliament, Supreme Court and a large number of government offices. Meanwhile, the houses and offices of royalists and the pro-Western National Independent Party were left untouched.

The ILPS condemns the dissolution of parliament and subsequent takeover by a pro-US puppet as a plot for counter-revolution against the achievements of the historic Nepalese People’s War. The imperialist, monarchist, and Hindu fundamentalist forces took advantage of the militant calls of the people. The situation also leaves a ripe opportunity for the US and Indian armies to intervene and expand their regional hegemony as part of the US strategy to contain and provoke war with China. Foreign military intervention and aggression against Nepal must not be accepted.

While the League condemns the mass killing and destruction of the public infrastructure by pro-Western forces, it puts its full faith in the movement of the people to regroup and fight militantly for a genuinely sovereign, independent, and democratic Nepal free of corruption, military rule, and foreign intervention.

Signed,

International League of Peoples’ Struggle