by Dr Maya John In South Asia 14/10/2025
This article is based on the discussions with activists from Nepal and other participants at the online meeting recently organized by Workers International Network (WIN).
On September 8, mass protests erupted in Kathmandu (Nepal) after calls for agitation were made by NGOs, social media influencers, and prominent netizens. The trigger appears to have been the decision of the government to suspend the services of several US-based social media platforms for failure to comply with a 2023 Supreme Court directive to register themselves and appoint a local contact person for addressing grievances. After periodically extending deadlines for what are now established norms for private enterprises setting up their business across countries, the Nepal government proceeded to block the services of those apps which continued to ignore local regulations. This act touched a raw nerve, and for a country already brimming with latent discontent, it proved to be the last straw for many.
What soon unfolded was much more than a reaction to a governmental measure that was perceived as a crackdown on digital rights and freedom. Provoked by the deaths of the protesters during police action on September 8, the following day angry demonstrators burnt to ashes several government buildings across the country, including the parliament and supreme court. Several politicians’ residences, posh hotels, car showrooms and private offices were also set ablaze as mass scale vandalism unfolded.
By 9 September, with the resignation of Prime Minister K.P. Oli, the government toppled, and the Nepal Army emerged as a power broker. Meanwhile, in the backdrop of the violent clashes, the known faces of what is recognized as the ‘Gen Z’ (people born between 1997 and 2012) were quick to distance themselves from the violence. They claimed that unwanted elements had entered and changed the direction of the movement. In the hurried bid to separate themselves from what increasingly came to be projected as anarchy, some ‘Gen Z’ activists proclaimed that they had harboured no intention per se in seeing through a regime change. An endeavour was simultaneously made on 10 September to choose the next prime minister through an informal poll conducted on a US-owned gaming app, Discord. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice, Sushila Karki, emerged as the so-called popular choice of the ‘Gen Z’.
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