Sher Bahadur Deuba returns to Nepal after treatment for protest injuries

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Aug 13, 2026 18:38 IST

Former Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned home on Thursday after spending more than five months abroad for medical treatment for injuries he sustained during the Gen Z protests last year.

Deuba and his wife, former foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba, were seriously injured during violent anti-government protests on September 9, 2025, when demonstrations led by the Gen Z movement swept across Nepal and led to the fall of the K P Sharma Oli government. Deuba arrived in Nepal to a welcome from senior Nepali Congress leaders and party workers.

According to party leaders, Deuba landed at Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu in the afternoon after completing his treatment. He and Rana had travelled to Singapore in February for medical care, and Deuba had also reportedly stayed in Hong Kong for a brief period. The whereabouts of Rana remain unclear.

Deuba was received at the airport by senior Nepali Congress leaders, including Purna Bahadur Khadka, Shashanka Koirala, Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi, among others. Hundreds of party activists from across the country gathered near the airport and cheered as he arrived.

In an appeal issued after his arrival, Deuba said the mountains, green hills and vast plains of the Tarai had called him back home. He said he had returned "not as a leader but as a lifelong citizen of the nation", ready to serve with humility, dedication and love. Referring to the Nepali Congress, he said the party is not just an organisation with a history of democracy, but one that has survived decades of political struggle while preserving its existence and dignity.

Deuba, 80, has served as Nepal's prime minister five times between 1995 and 2022 and is a veteran Nepali Congress leader. He became party president in 2016 and was re-elected in 2021. During the Gen Z protest, he was not holding any ministerial position and was serving as a Member of Parliament and the party president. The Balen Shah government had issued an arrest warrant against Deuba and Rana under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, but it was later quashed by the Supreme Court.

Deuba's return marks the end of his more than five-month stay abroad for treatment after the 2025 protests, with party leaders and workers welcoming back the former prime minister as questions remain over Rana's whereabouts.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends