October 04, 2023 10:51 pm | Updated 10:51 pm IST - KATHMANDUDespite quickly escalating tensions between Hindus and Muslims, the night passed peacefully after a lockdown was imposed and security heightened in a city in southwest Nepal, officials said. Trouble began in the regional hub city of Nepalgunj over the weekend after a Hindu boy posted a status about Muslims on social media. Muslims protested the status inside the region’s main government administrator’s office building, burned tires on the streets and blocked traffic. Communal violence is not common in Nepal, which is a Hindu majority country that turned secular just a few years ago. Muslims make up roughly a third of Nepalgunj's population, and only about 14% of India's population, which shares a border with the Nepal town and has seen a widening religious divide.

Source: The Hindu October 04, 2023 20:53 UTC