Today We Won' Bittersweet Victory for Young Nepalis

The whiteboard listing the names of patients at a hospital in central Kathmandu tells the story of a protest gone wrong.

- Pete Pattisson

The whiteboard listing the names of patients at a hospital in central Kathmandu tells the story of a protest gone wrong. Beside each name is written their ages: 18, 22, 20, 18, 23. The list goes on.

By yesterday morning there were still scores of Nepal's young people being treated for gunshot wounds and injuries sustained when police opened fire on protesters in Kathmandu on Monday.

These are the so-called gen Z protesters, a generation of young Nepalis who led a mass protest against government corruption, nepotism and a ban on social media sites, and paid for it with bullet wounds and in some cases their lives. Hundreds were injured and at least 22 are believed to have died.

From his hospital bed, Saurav*, an 18-year-old student, said he had been excited to join the protest. "The politicians are just selling our country for their own greed. That's not supposed to happen," he said.