Occupy Baluwatar, also known as Baluwatar Satyagraha,[citation needed] was a peaceful protest movement calling on the Nepali state to better address the widespread problem of impunity and gender-based violence. Protesters had gathered beginning on 28 December 2012 outside the prime minister’s official residence in Baluwatar from 9:00 -11:00 am daily.
The first days of protests were loosely organized. There was some organizing online in the few days prior to the street protests.[1] An organizing group, made up of active protesters, emerged following the first week of protest. The movement has been supported by a variety of groups and has gone viral in social media forums.[2]
The protesters created a coherent set of demands, divided into short- and long-term goals, which they presented to then prime minister Baburam Bhattarai.[3] The short-term demands called on the state, including the police and the judiciary, to properly investigate and prosecute the guilty in five specific cases which took place immediately prior to the movement’s start. The long-term demands focused on policy reform in the arenas of migration and rape laws, among others.