Operations at Simara Airport were suspended on Thursday after police fired tear gas near the airport area as Gen Z demonstrators returned to the streets for a second consecutive day, marking a sharp escalation in the unrest gripping Nepal’s Bara district.
Authorities imposed a district-wide curfew from 1.00 pm to 8.00 p.m. after early-morning clashes between protestors and security forces reignited tensions that had first erupted on Wednesday. “Curfew has been reimposed following the clash with the police to bring the situation under control,” assistant chief district officer Chhabiraman Subedi told media.
The renewed turmoil follows plans by CPN-UML leaders to visit the district ahead of the March 5, 2026 elections — a move that has inflamed the already fragile security environment. Bara has struggled to regain stability since the September uprising that left 76 people dead and resulted in hundreds of inmates and weapons going missing.
Wednesday’s confrontation in Simara Chowk left seven Gen Z supporters injured, including 21-year-old local leader Samrat Upadhyay. He claimed that “10–12 youths had gathered peacefully” when UML cadres allegedly attacked them, prompting his group to file a complaint against six party members. “Our demand is simple — arrest Mahesh Basnet and UML cadres who launched a brutal attack on us,” Upadhyay told local media, vowing that Bara would remain shut until the arrests are made.
Police have since detained two ward chairs — Dhan Bahadur Shrestha of Ward 2 and Kaimudin Ansari of Ward 6 of Jeetpursimara Sub-metropolitan City — in connection with Wednesday’s violence.