The Nepal protests, a so-called Gen Z revolution, began as a social media campaign targeting “#NepoKids.” Those are the privileged offspring of Nepal’s corrupt political class.
Photos of politicians’ children flaunting Louis Vuitton bags and posing beside luxury cars flooded TikTok and X, alongside scenes of everyday Nepalis struggling to make ends meet. The optics hit a nerve in a country where youth unemployment is over 20 percent and remittances from abroad prop up a third of the economy.
Then came the government’s genius move: banning social media altogether. For a generation whose lifeline to family, friends, and the outside world runs through Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube, it was like cutting off their own citizens from the larger world, but also from one another.
It was a defining line drawn in the sand. It was the Nepalese government telling its citizens that they don’t get to talk to each other.
What’s Really Going On With Nepal’s Deadly ‘Gen Z’ Protests
What started as peaceful protests quickly erupted. On Monday, thousands of students in uniforms swarmed Kathmandu’s streets. Police fired live ammunition and tear gas, with seemingly little to no provocation as far as anyone is aware at this point.
At least 22 protesters were killed. Most were under 30. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned the next day, along with several key ministers. Parliament, the Supreme Court, and government palaces were set ablaze.
And the protests didn’t stop.
Gen Z demonstrators insisted they weren’t behind the looting and violence; opportunists had hijacked the moment. But the rage was absolute, driven by years of watching the elite fail upward while the rest fled the country for work abroad. Calls grew louder for genuine reform, transparency, and maybe some leaders who aren’t hoarding cash in offshore accounts.
In the political vacuum, protest leaders nominated former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki to head an interim government. Meanwhile, the army pleaded for calm, and President Ramchandra Paudel offered vague, impotent appeals for dialogue.
Kathmandu is, reportedly, quiet today, but smoldering—literally, figuratively. The social media ban has been lifted. And where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.
What’s clear is that Nepal’s youth want change. A shift away from the lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous, from the spoiled children of the upper echelons. They want someone to care about them.
And they might just burn down whatever gets in their way to get it.
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