KATHMANDU: Retired Nepali civil servant Dhruba Shrestha has lived through decades of turmoil from civil war to political upheaval but says nothing compared to this week’s violence.
The 76-year-old told AFP he had seen violence since his student days but never such a riot as soldiers briefly lifted a curfew in the capital.
Nepal plunged into chaos after police fired on young anti-corruption protesters triggering nationwide unrest on Tuesday.
Demonstrators torched parliament government and presidential offices and a newly opened Hilton Hotel before soldiers retook control of the streets the following day.
Shrestha said anyone would be afraid in such a situation as nobody could have imagined this destruction.
The capital’s streets were eerily quiet on Friday littered with charred vehicles as soldiers manned checkpoints around scorched government buildings.
At least 51 people were killed across the country of 30 million marking the worst violence since the end of civil war and monarchy abolition in 2008.
Security forces are scrambling to recapture some 12,500 inmates who escaped in mass jailbreaks during the chaos.
Nepal’s president and army chief are seeking a consensus interim leader to fill the political vacuum created by the unrest.
Disagreements between rival factions remain although Sushila Karki Nepal’s first woman chief justice is a leading candidate for the role.
Hundreds of residents emerged from hiding at home to buy food bracing for potentially more days indoors under military control.
Shrestha described the situation as scary and troubling while stocking up at a market during the brief curfew lift.
Economic hardship added fuel to the protests alongside demands for political change and anti-corruption measures.
The World Bank says a staggering 82% of Nepal’s workforce is in informal employment among the highest rates globally.
Construction worker Anup Thapa said it was difficult for people like him who have to earn and spend every day without savings.
Others came out to witness the destruction including 73-year-old Achyut Thapaliya who wept after visiting the fire-ravaged Singha Durbar government complex.
Thapaliya returned with tears in his eyes saying the complex was their national pride now destroyed by fire.
He backed the protesters’ demand to end corruption but recoiled at the violence in this land of Buddha. – AFP