WHEN THE ROOF COLLAPSES

The Gen Z movement represents a generation unwilling to accept business as usual. They seek answers to corruption, rising inequality and unemployment

- BY RAMESH POKHREL/Kathmandu

What began as a protest against a corrupt and repressive government has spiralled into one of the gravest political crises in Nepal’s modern history.

On September 8, security forces brutally suppressed the Gen Z movement, leaving at least 19 protesters dead and more than 400 injured. By September 10, Kathmandu’s sky was shrouded in thick smoke as demonstrators set fire to Singha Durbar, Nepal’s historic administrative centre, while the political order began to unravel. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned under immense pressure, Kathmandu’s mayor Balendra Shah called on demonstrators to prepare for direct negotiations with the army chief, and President Ram-chandra Paudel appealed for calm and dialogue. Yet, the fire and fury on the streets suggest a nation lurching towards an uncertain future.

The Gen Z protests had been building momentum for weeks, rooted in anger at rising inequality, corruption and what many youth call the “broken promises of democracy”; the social media ban was merely the tigger. The September 8 crackdown was intended to crush that momentum. Instead, it became the spark for a conflagration. Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos in Kathmandu and other major cities as security forces opened fire and deployed tear gas against crowds that had swelled into tens of thousands. Videos circulating on social media—the ban was lifted post the protest—showed protesters carrying bloodied companions, streets littered with shoes and broken shields and makeshift clinics overwhelmed with the injured. Far from dispersing, the protests have expanded, with workers, students and even disaffected members of ruling parties joining in.