Kathmandu: Outside Tribhuvan International Airport, protesters stare down a line of
riot police, chanting slogans calling for an end to K.P. Sharma Oli’s government.
Hundreds of local people are out on the streets, defying a curfew imposed after 19
people were killed in riots on Monday.
“This was never about the social media ban. It’s against corruption and the government controlling our narratives,” said 28-year-old Arambha Karki, a civil engineer tired of media organisations mislabeling the protests.
“Megalomaniacs run our country. Our prime minister is ordering for people to be shot at sight.” Karki wanted to set the record straight—the social media ban was just the spark that
lit the fire, one that had been simmering in people’s minds for a while.
“We have seen small protests in the past all over the country, but this may be a turning point in our history. It involves the youth,” he said.
On Tuesday, protesters set ablaze the houses of both ex-PM Oli and President Ram Chandra
Paudel. Paudel’s resignation followed soon after Oli’s. But it has not placated the protesters.
“Basically, this protest started yesterday with the Gen-Z generation, but today the older people have also joined,” said 29-year-old Sagar, adding that he isn’t satisfied with just Oli’s resignation. “There should be criminal procedures so they can be held accountable.”
‘They were just kids!’
Aashika, 28, didn’t join the protests on Monday. Not because she didn’t want to, but
because the protest was specifically for GenZ, those under 28. Then she heard about the deaths.
“How old must they have been? 17 or 18? They were kids,” she said, outside a
protest on Ring Road, where fires blazed in the middle of the street. “They don’t know
anything about protests. They just went to voice their opinion and did it peacefully.”
According to her, the protest turned violent at midnight, when security forces opened fire on protesters. Some were shot with bullets in the head, others in the arms and legs. Soon after, the Civil Hospital was filled with injured protesters, blood dripping through their clothes to the hospital floor.
“They were not just rubber bullets—they were actual bullets, targeting students in the head,” said Karki, who was there to witness the mayhem. “Now, many of our youth who support political parties have realised they are wrong.”
Karki explained that Nepal was undergoing a change, where even students who were
part of unions affiliated with political parties were resigning and joining the protest. “Some GenZ are even requesting their parents to stop talking to them unless they withdraw their support to political parties,” he said. “I’m so angry right now, if you cut me you will see my blood boiling.”
‘We dont have bullets, just our voice’
Aashika couldn’t hide her anger while talking about the protests on Monday. She holds back angry tears while talking about how the police opened fire on a peaceful protest, even going as far as shooting at people inside the Civil Hospital.
“No Nepali slept last night,” she said, adding that people are angry that the police opened fire when the protest itself was meant to be peaceful. “We are the public. We don’t have guns or bullets—just our voice.”
On Tuesday, Aashika was out on the street with hundreds of others to voice her anger—at
the police for their use of force, at politicians for their greed and at the system which is overdue a change.
“If the youth doesn’t come forward to protest for their own rights, nobody will,” she said, as her friends took videos of her impassioned speech. “If we just sit at home and cry, then when will Nepal change?”
Sagar isn’t as vocal as he watches the protests unfolding on the streets. He learned about 8 September’s protests through social media platforms like Reddit and TikTok, where hashtags calling out “nepotism” among the nation’s political class are often trending.
“The trend ‘Nepo Kid’ on TikTok was exposing the lifestyle of politicians and their children,” he said, adding that these children would often be seen carrying expensive designer handbags or vacationing abroad. “Before the social media ban, there was frustration with inequality.”
It’s this vast difference between the lives of Nepal’s youth and that of the country’s political class that has brought people to the streets in droves. The social media ban was seen as another tool used to suppress dissent and cover up the luxuries enjoyed by the political class. “If our kids aren’t safe, then why would we not protest?” asked Aashika. “We brought
this government to power, so we will remove them.”
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: A history of dissent: How a Gen Z revolt brought down Nepal govt in 36 hours