KATHMANDU: For the past several years, people had been saying that Kathmandu was becoming stifling and congested, making it difficult to breathe.

Smoke, dust, endless road expansion, and various reasons like fires had started to completely cover the sky over this valley. The peaks of the Ganesh, Langtang, Dorje Lhakpa, and Jugal Himalayas had stopped being visible.

This was not just about air pollution. Plunder and corruption made people even more choked up. It made it impossible to earn a living. Two years ago, Prem Prasad Acharya did not set fire to his body for nothing. People were burning internally. The outrage had to explode somewhere.

It was at this time that the ‘Nepo Kid’ wave that started in the Philippines and Indonesia reached Nepal. Coincidentally, at this very time, the government banned 26 social media platforms, including Facebook. The hands of the youth, who were creatively protesting on social media, were tied. They decided to take to the streets. On September 8 and 9, the frustration of youth disillusionment exploded on the streets. It was as if a massive storm had come and swept everything away in an instant.

There are countless examples all over the world where rebellion has overthrown the government, but there is no history anywhere of young people under 28 who grew up with smartphones taking to the streets and forcing the country runners to flee by helicopter in barely 36 hours. Nepalis, who are keen on setting records, set a record in this, too.

What is happening? What is right and what is wrong? Who should do what? People didn’t even get a chance to properly understand and think. Khadga Prasad Oli, the Nepali avatar of ‘Ceaușescu,’ who was publicly displaying his arrogance in Baluwatar, was already under the protection of the army in Suparitara in the blink of an eye. The money and notes in the residence of Deuba, who was relying on Oli with the hope of becoming the Prime Minister again, as if ‘believing a liar’s invitation’ according to the astrologer’s prediction, had already turned to ashes. It was difficult to understand the chain of events: this unimaginable loss that happened in an instant, the top leaders of the parties, including Oli, who considered himself all-powerful, seeking refuge with the army, and the formation of a new government in between, as per the demands of the protestors.

Some, echoing the ousted Prime Minister Oli, started saying that everything was done by foreigners. To some, it seemed like the staging of a drama written by Balen Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, who had become popular through social media. Some merged both these narratives. Some formed the opinion that the army was involved in politics. Various kinds of speculations were scattered in the market. People started accepting those raw speculations, which had not been put to the test of evidence, as the ultimate truth. This process continues even today. Now, as it nears two months, some information is also being made public. However, it is not possible to say with certainty how much more time it will take for this to take shape.

Leaving aside these terrifying talks of conspiracies, the things that can be seen with the naked eye are easy for anyone to understand. If one simply looks at the path taken by the state operators after the 2005/06 People’s Movement, the power struggle, the development of social media, and the impact of Internet access on information flow and politics, this rebellion can be understood to some extent.

Army on the streets on the first day of the Gen Z protest on September 8. Photo: Bikram Rai/Nepal News

Data colonialism Versus authoritarianism

To understand any event, it must be analyzed based on its immediate causes and the long-developing circumstantial causes. The immediate cause of this is the campaign against ‘Nepo Baby’ and ‘Nepo Kids’ that took place in Indonesia and the Philippines. On the other hand, at this very time, the Government of Nepal banned 26 different social media platforms, including Facebook.

On the afternoon of September 5, I was sitting in a shop eating. The proprietress was talking to some customers there. She had apparently come to know about the anti-corruption campaign, including ‘Nepo Baby,’ that was running on TikTok. Her understanding was that the government had banned social media because of this. “They say Facebook was shut down to prevent corruption scandals from coming out!” she had said.

The use of ‘Nepo Baby’ began after 2020, targeting artists in Hollywood who were running on the popularity of their parents. According to independent journalist Jakob Weizman in an article published on YourDictionary.com, the first use of its full form, Nepotism Baby, occurred after 2010. In 2022, the word grabbed people’s attention after a series of posts on Twitter targeted Maude Apatow, the daughter of director Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann. That same year, Net Jones wrote an article in Vulture magazine titled “How the Nepo Baby Was Born in Hollywood,” and New York magazine published a cover story by Priyanka Mantha about Hollywood’s Nepo Babies. After this, the use of this word increased in other sectors besides Hollywood.

This year, when anti-corruption movements started in Indonesia and the Philippines, ‘Nepo Babies’ were targeted. They were the children of political leaders, government officials, and contractors. This brought the term ‘Nepo Baby’ into the mainstream of political movements.

Chad de Guzman writes in an article published in Time magazine about the Gen Z protest in Nepal, ‘It (the movement in Nepal) followed a similar trend in the Philippines, where the Nepo Baby children of contractors and officials holding public office were publicly shamed and exposed online. This was due to their display of wealth and ‘luxury’ amid growing scrutiny over corruption and incomplete flood control projects’. In the same article, Guzman mentioned that along with ‘Nepo Baby,’ ‘Nepo Kids’ also became prevalent and more widely used in Nepal.

The trending of Nepo Baby and Nepo Kids was happening on TikTok. However, since the government’s directive required TikTok to be registered, making it possible to know who posted, users started using Reddit. Groups like r/NepalSocial and r/Nepal were active on Reddit. The plan to protest on September 8 against the government’s ban on social media platforms was made on Reddit’s r/NepalSocial. They moved to Discord to discuss this in a chat group. Reddit and Discord were both platforms that the Oli government had closed down. Users employed Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology to circumvent the ban. It was from this discussion that the decision was made to raise the demands for lifting the social media ban along with the end of corruption.

When the youth gathered at Maitighar on the morning of September 8, they had two demands: lifting the social media ban and ending corruption.

Many arguments were put forward in favor of banning social media. Particularly, propaganda was being spread that social media companies were operating unregistered and were not paying taxes. However, the government’s own data shows that social media companies have paid Rs 930 million in tax. According to the data from the Inland Revenue Department, various companies, including Meta, Google, and TikTok, have paid Rs 930 million in tax through the Digital Service Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) specifically levied by the government targeting social media companies. Therefore, the disinformation that they were not paying taxes was focused only on defending the social media operation directive brought by the government.

Chairman KP Sharma Oli at the CPN-UML Central Committee meeting. Photo: Bikram Rai/Nepal News

Due to excessive suppression during the September 8 protest, 22 protestors were killed, which increased the pressure on Prime Minister Oli to resign. However, in the cabinet meeting that very night, he maintained his stance that “I will not bow down to Meta, which disrespects the country, even if I lose my position.”

In the last few decades of the 20th century, parallel developments occurred in Internet and computer technology. With the invention of the IBM Simon in 1994, the Internet began to move from computers and laptops into the hands of people. Three years later, in 1997, the era of social media truly began with the launch of a social network called Six Degrees. Although a few other social networks developed during this time, Facebook, which entered the market in 2004, made a huge leap. Following this, various social media and e-commerce platforms became the center of the global economy. The capitalist system, centered on the production and distribution of goods, transformed into a new system based on data trade.

Scholars like British journalist Paul Mason and Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis are claiming that capitalism is dead and a new system is developing on its foundation. Due to the nature of these companies, which earn many times more than old capitalists and establish a monopoly in the market by renting out services through social media platforms and e-commerce sites, Yanis has named this era techno-feudalism. This has given a new form to colonization. But the exploitation of the market, resources, capital, and labor of the past will continue in this new era as well. Above all, data will be exploited. In the book The Cost of Connection, Nick Couldry and Ulises Ali Mejias gave this a new name: data colonialism.

Today, the entire world has become a colony of Silicon Valley. Europe, which once imposed geographical colonialism worldwide, is itself becoming a colony of Silicon Valley. On the other hand, Beijing is emerging as a new center of data colonialism. Russia is trying to cope with the influence of Silicon Valley’s colonialism in one way or another. China and Russia have built effective virtual walls to protect themselves from Silicon Valley’s influence. The Third World is the first victim of data colonialism. Through this, the US is hijacking not only data and capital but also the consciousness and political issues of the people here.

Today, the world does not have any program on how to cope with data colonialism. However, events from the Arab Spring to the Color Revolutions and the upheavals in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh demand such a program as soon as possible. In the Gen Z protest series, it will take some time to know what the self-interest and role of Silicon Valley are. This suggests that data colonialism can easily interfere politically in vulnerable countries like Nepal. It cannot be denied that the economic interests of giant tech companies are intertwined with US hegemony and geopolitical interests in the changing world order.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and KP Sharma Oli.

From this perspective, the step taken by Oli might appear nationalist. But the other side of this needs to be examined to understand what Oli wanted to achieve through the Social Media Operation Directive, 2023.

In reality, this is a struggle of the country’s political power with giant tech companies for the use of social media power. The objective of the Oli government’s directive, which is filled with abstract words, is clearly to suppress questions and critical voices raised against him. The directive stipulated that once social media companies registered in Nepal under this directive, they would have to ‘delete’ user-posted content within 24 hours as per government instructions and face a hefty fine if they failed to do so. This would create a situation where questions and critical content unfavorable to the government would not even be circulated on social media. Users experienced that TikTok, which is registered under this directive, actively ‘deleted’ or ‘limited the reach’ of content against the government during the Gen Z protest itself.

Oli’s attempt was to brand himself as ‘K.P. Ba’ (referring to an elderly person with respect in Nepali) on social media and run an authoritarian government by securing at least a comfortable majority in the upcoming election. If one carefully looks at his regular meetings with social media influencers, the YouTube channel named ‘K.P. Ba’ run targeting the youth, and the publication of its content in newspapers, a conscious effort to brand him as ‘K.P. Ba’ was underway. For this, the slogan ‘K.P. Ba! I love you!’ was created and circulated. In the beginning, some teenagers were also seen posting videos and photos on TikTok saying, ‘K.P. Ba! I love you!’.

In essence, the directive introduced by the Oli government and the attempt to shut down social media are the product of an internal conflict between the giant tech companies (the center of data colonialism) and the national political power trying to impose an authoritarian rule. The struggle of the common people against the Silicon Valley empire is long-term and global, but the struggle against the domestic authoritarianism emerging on the back of this very network was the first priority. The struggle against the widespread plunder and extreme inequality that thrived under Oli’s growing authoritarian rule was the first priority of the Nepali people. This very priority manifested itself as the Gen Z protest.

The burning question of the present is how this conflict over data ownership and social media regulation can be managed in the interest of the common people. Neo-Marxists like Mason and Yanis have put forward the idea of community ownership to wrest data ownership from giant tech corporations and prevent it from going into the ownership of political power. Even the famous liberal historian Yuval Noah Harari put forward the same idea before the COVID period. However, he is currently silent on this question. The alternative regarding community ownership is based on the philosophy put forward by Karl Marx in the 19th century concerning the ownership of industries. Specifically, his writing ‘Fragments on Machine’ has hinted at the current internal conflict and the political program for its management.

Oli’s attempt was to brand himself as ‘K.P. Ba’ (referring to an elderly person with respect in Nepali) on social media and run an authoritarian government by securing at least a comfortable majority in the upcoming election.

Mason, Yanis, and others argue that an independent structure should be developed for social media regulation, where the influence of both giant tech and the government is absent. The question of Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation is also connected to this, which is being discussed even in the United Nations. Will these questions of data ownership, social media, and AI ethics remain confined to imagination? The future will tell.

But it seems that the conflict between giant tech and authoritarian governments will continue, new dictators will keep emerging in the world, and rebellions using technology against them will also continue. For the time being in Nepal, the use of technology-based authoritarianism has been defeated by the conscious new youth generation.

The vicious cycle of plunder versus regression

Although the immediate causes that drove the rebellious youth to the streets were the ‘Nepo Baby’ and ‘Nepo Kids’ trends on social media and the government’s ban on social media, the environment for this had been systematically building up for a long time. After the 2005/06 People’s Movement, the country was stuck in a long transition. The Constitution was finally promulgated in 2015 after a decade of struggle. After this, the main political parties could not focus on good governance and economic development. They destroyed all the values and norms, not only of democracy but also of politics itself. Politics turned into a business, and democracy transformed into ‘leader (-archy/-cracy).’

Corruption flourished to such an extent that no state body remained untouched by it. Service delivery bodies could not remain accountable to the public. Forget about people easily getting the services and facilities they were entitled to from the state; a situation arose where people had to suffer harassment because of the state itself. This began to increase people’s disillusionment, not just with political parties, but also with achievements like the republic, federalism, and inclusiveness, which were gained through the long struggle of the people. Showing this problem, regressive forces started becoming active.

The first tripartite dialogue between the government, political parties, and Gen Z. Photo: RSS

Not only did a game begin to bring back the monarchy by using people’s disappointment with the parties and leaders as a tool, but attacks were also being carried out on the republic, federalism, and secularism. This was an attempt by the courtiers of the Shah palace, the priests, and even those who benefited from the scraps of the palace to return to power, which was defeated by the political consciousness of the protesting youth. They barred all types of collaborators of regression and put forward mature political issues.

From Prithvi Narayan Shah’s campaign until 1951, the country was ruled solely by the courtier families connected to the Gorkha Shah palace. Be it Mathwar Singh Thapa or Gagan Singh Khawas, Bhimsen Thapa or Jung Bahadur Rana and his successors, the key to power was in the hands of the courtier families. They were supported by a few priestly families. All state power was in their hands. Politics was nothing but the conflict among the courtiers connected to the palace or among themselves. On the one hand, this created a feudal structure where all wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few families, and on the other hand, it created a strong structure of exclusion for the Madhes, Far-West, Karnali, indigenous communities, and Dalit communities. The structural design of the current inequality, exclusion, and discrimination in Nepali society was built on this foundation.

After the revolution of 1951, the Nepali Congress took the lead of the country by giving constitutional rights to the monarchy. B.P. Koirala seems to have understood that on the issues of identity, inclusiveness, and the social structure of Nepali society, indigenous communities and Madhes should be connected to the government. He understood that a country is not made only by connecting geography; people also need to be connected. The democratic system snatched power from the old courtiers of Nepal. The courtier class, expelled from power, made Mahendra their leader. The ‘coup’ of 1960 was the first regression carried out by the feudal regime in Nepal’s democratic movement.

The Panchayat era was a time when countries in the Third World were gaining liberation from European colonialism. ‘Nation-building’ was a very popular political program at that time, which the Europeans were exporting. Most European countries were ethnic states, not multinational states. Therefore, the model they exported was that a country should have one language, one ethnicity, one culture, and one dress. Along with this were large-scale infrastructures.

The ‘coup’ of 1960 was the first regression carried out by the feudal regime in Nepal’s democratic movement.

King Mahendra mimicked this. On one hand, the self-interest of the feudal regime, and on the other, the imported European model of ethnic concept—during the Panchayat era, ethnic-geographic exclusion, discrimination, economic inequality, and oppression all moved forward institutionally through the modern state structure. On the other hand, the work of spreading corruption from the top to the bottom of the power structure also took place during the Panchayat era. The psychology was created that the law is made to control the common people, and the high-class people in power are above the law.

The change of 1990 brought political transformation to the country. The system changed, but no program was put forward to solve exclusion, oppression, discrimination, and economic inequality. Instead, the leaders of the parties transformed into new Panchas. Corruption widely increased. The parties could not maintain the public’s trust in them for a long time. It was at this time that the Maoist People’s War began. Their main goal was to establish communism by solving economic inequality. To bring people to their ideology, they first had to solve the real contradictions of society. These issues were not raised by the Maoists from any leftist theory or communist ideal. They had to make the abolition of exclusion, discrimination, and oppression the main issue after realizing that people would not come to the communist utopia without first solving the contradictions of society.

The ‘coup’ of 1960 was corrected in 1990, but King Gyanendra again carried out a phased ‘coup’ by using the Maoist ‘People’s War’ as an excuse. This brought the seven parties and the Maoists together. In terms of agenda, the issues raised by the Maoists at that time were addressed, and the old parties got an opportunity to be renewed and regain the public’s trust. With the declaration of the republic immediately after the Constituent Assembly election, not only did the monarchy formally bid farewell, but the dominance of all courtiers also ended. Some former Panchas tried to return to power and authority through the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, but that was unsuccessful.

On the other hand, the Maoists could not capitalize on the opportunity to transform the country. The people had made them the largest party in the First Constituent Assembly. Their main task was to utilize this to promulgate the constitution and liberate the people from corruption and misgovernance. Prachanda and the entire Maoist party were so encouraged by the election results that they made many mistakes in the dilemma between seizing power and proceeding through the democratic process. After the First Constituent Assembly failed to promulgate the constitution, in the Second Constituent Assembly, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML received almost equal votes from the people, while the Maoists were limited to the third party.

The promulgation of the Constitution, which had the core essence of the republic, federalism, secularism, and inclusiveness, was a victory for the Maoists. Even though these agendas were raised by the Maoists, they had already become the main issues in Nepali politics. The implementation of these concepts through the Constitution marked the beginning of an effort to find a solution to the exclusion, discrimination, and oppression that had begun with the establishment of modern Nepal and had been institutionally structured during the Panchayat era. The role of the Madhes movement and the various phases of the indigenous peoples’ movements in pressuring this was also important.

Although the Maoists were partially successful in institutionalizing political issues, they could not ensure the good governance and economic development they had promised. Instead, they were mired in the quagmire of corruption. The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML forgot the promise they had made to the people before the People’s Movement, which was to ‘reform.’ The multi-party era games, from Prado-Pajero to Lauda, began to advance in the republican era with the involvement of the Maoists as well.

Although the transition period formally ended with the promulgation of the Constitution in 2015, the main characteristics of the 17 years following the republic were misgovernance, institutional decay, a lack of seriousness in implementing the constitution, a series of corruption scandals, and playing with geopolitical sensitivities. Fortunately, the youth did not let the economy sink by sending remittances.

Various attempts were made to establish stability by creating a narrative that the instability of the government was the cause of all this disorder. A government with nearly a two-thirds majority was also formed through the unity of the CPN-UML and the Maoists. This experiment failed due to geopolitical maneuvering, rampant corruption, and Oli’s lust for power. After this, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, the largest and second-largest parties in the Parliament, respectively, formed a powerful government by bulldozing the constitution. Both these governments had promised stability. However, the government did not provide stability in development and good governance but stability in corruption and the plunder of the state treasury.

From Yeti-Omni to Batas, from Lalita Niwas to Tikapur and Giribandhu, from the Widebody scandal to the Rs 700 million deal, from money games in appointments to transfers and promotions—the news was enough to make people weary. The public’s belief that work would be done on time without recommendation and bribery had vanished. The movements from ‘Make Books Tax Free’ to ‘Enough is Enough’ and the current Gen Z protest were all against this open corruption and the economic inequality it was creating. The attraction towards independent candidates and new parties in past local and federal elections was also a result of this dissatisfaction.

Although the Maoists were partially successful in institutionalizing political issues, they could not ensure the good governance and economic development they had promised.

After the First Constituent Assembly election, the parties interfered with the work of all state institutions. Institutions from top to bottom were filled with individuals from political parties. From universities to academic institutions, from the police to the Election Commission, and from the CIAA to the Authority, the parties sought ways to earn income by crippling these institutions. The country was trapped in the clutches of ‘party-archy/-cracy,’ and the parties were transformed into gangs plundering the state treasury. When the parties were burdened with illegal and unethical responsibilities, ‘party-cracy’ also became weak.

The parties put all their power at the feet of the three top leaders. After this, the entire country began to be run from the palaces of Budhanilkantha, Balakot, and Khumaltar. No party control, no questioning cadres! They openly made plunder their mantra. If anyone questioned, the lame excuse was given that ‘We fought for the republic yesterday; that’s why you can speak.’ Oli and his kitchen cabinet were the most intent on shutting the mouths of critics. For this, not only was the government machinery used, but an Oli order was issued to create a cyber army and attack critics like wasps. The public understood that Oli and his group were engaged in protecting corruption and corrupt individuals, misusing not only the law but also government structures and the judiciary to settle political scores, suppressing the voices of critics, committing corruption by making laws, and branding himself as the supreme leader. He was on the path to becoming an elected dictator.

On the other hand, the parties were not at all serious about implementing the constitution. The federation continued to obstruct the devolution of constitutional rights to the provincial and local governments, from employee adjustment onwards. When Prime Minister Oli called the chief ministers of all seven provinces and stated that provinces are units of the federation, there was no strong protest.

Attempts to amend the constitution for Bam Dev Gautam to pave the way for a defeated candidate to become Prime Minister, and attempts to dissolve the Parliament (which the constitution does not permit), all happened under Oli’s leadership. Oli is not solely responsible for this; the party that made him a leader and the Nepali Congress and Maoists who supported him to become prime minister are equally guilty. Due to mutual agreement found in corruption scandals, the practical difference between the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and Maoists disappeared.

The parties became agents of plunder, and the republic transformed into a ‘leader-cracy.’ Showing this very plunder, the regressive forces began to attempt to return to power once again. They started to describe the monarchy’s rule as a heaven. All kinds of attempts were made to influence the youth who had not experienced or seen the king’s rule. Various attempts were made to annul the constitution. The parties started appealing to democracy by pointing to these attempts by the courtiers. In other words, the country was badly trapped in a cycle where regression was maneuvered by showing plunder, and plunder strengthened itself by showing regression.

The people stopped seeing a place to hope. The result of this was the Gen Z protest of 2025.

The Gen Z protest of 2025

After the 2005/06 People’s Movement, the country proceeded towards political stability. The achievement of this was the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2015. Although it was a document of compromise, this constitution took the path of solving social contradictions. Economic development and job creation were the aspirations of the general youth. However, the parties and their leadership failed to identify the obstacles to economic development and had no program on how to advance economic development in the country’s complex geo-economic situation. There was a vague insistence on industrialization as a product of old communist and capitalist thought, but there was no blueprint on the potential for industrialization and how to implement it.

The dream of getting rich by selling hydroelectricity was sold, but no steps were taken to identify and resolve the obstacles to hydroelectric power development. Talk of self-sufficiency in agriculture remained confined to rhetoric. The slogan of making Nepal like Singapore and Switzerland sold well, but no one could present a program on how to prepare the foundation for economic development by solving the obstacles in front of them.

Up until three years ago, the country had a demographic advantage with over 65% of the working-age population and half the population being young. However, as job opportunities were not created within the country, the pace of migration in search of employment to the Gulf, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan, as well as Europe, America, and Australia, intensified. They witnessed economic development there. Due to social media, even those remaining in Nepal got the opportunity to become familiar with the economic progress and governance trends there.

The ruling parties could not offer the youth, who expected employment and a quality life, anything other than misgovernance and corruption. As the expectation was that of developed countries, but the reality was similar to the world’s poorest countries, the frustration and anger of the Nepali youth had been growing for a long time. The youth expressed this anger through social media. They expressed themselves through memes and trolls. The parties could not understand the compulsions, desires, and ambitions of this generation.

The dream of getting rich by selling hydroelectricity was sold, but no steps were taken to identify and resolve the obstacles to hydroelectric power development.

On one hand, corruption and disorder were at their peak, while the government was gradually moving towards authoritarianism. Activities like creating a cyber army to attack critics on social media, arresting people just for criticizing, and harassing them were ongoing. The decision to shut down social media at the same time as the Nepo Baby campaign, which expressed economic inequality and extreme corruption, called the youth to the streets. Due to the inability of the security mechanism to handle the situation, extreme repression occurred on the first day, and on the second day, Prime Minister Oli was forced to resign as prime minister and hide under army protection.

The parties and leaders who were removed from power as symbols of corruption are trying to criminalize the rebellion by pointing to the violence of September 9. This is not only a bid to restore lost prestige but also an attempt to restore institutional plunder. In recent days, the Gen Z protestors appear to be on the defensive, and the ousted power is aggressive. If the country continues on this path, it will lead to another accident. World history is witness that counter-revolutions caused by criminalizing revolutions, rebellions, or movements lead the country to anarchy and instability.

The final maneuvering of regression

A final attempt to bring back the monarchy was underway even before the atmosphere for the Gen Z protest started to form. Although such attempts were ongoing from social media to the streets, they did not have the support of the general public. However, the royalists seemed to be under the illusion that the youth were in favor of the monarchy. When their protest on March 28 turned violent, public sympathy sharply declined.

The royalists, who understood that an environment for the return of the king would be created by gathering geopolitical advantages from the Indian government led by Narendra Modi (who was said to be negative towards Oli), were constantly making efforts in this campaign afterward. The fact that they tried in every possible way to infiltrate the youth’s protest against the social media ban and for the end of corruption was exposed on the surface. However, the final attempt at regression was defeated by the political consciousness of the youth who took to the streets.

The older generation constantly accuses Gen Z of lacking political consciousness and understanding. Even today, a flood of ridicule and advice in the name of Gen Z can be seen everywhere, from the media to social media. The political consciousness of these young Nepalis, who carry the information of the world in their hands, has proven to be stronger than that of their seniors from other generations. They have confirmed that their generation is not just about rebellion but is also conscious of problem-solving and finding a way out. Despite widespread dissatisfaction and anger towards the parties, Gen Z has protected the constitution. They barred the royalists at the protest site and also during the talks held at the Army Headquarters.

For the new youth, monarchy is neither the problem nor the solution. They do not even want to return to this discussion. It is necessary that not only the former king and those around him, but also the old and new courtiers who are politically benefitting from the monarchy’s slogan, understand this. If anyone inside the army still thinks they can reawaken the ghost of the monarchy, they also need to understand that the possibility of a monarchy has ended.

The youth want to reform and strengthen this very system. Regression has been completely defeated by the political consciousness of the new Nepali youth generation. They need to understand that if the palace tries to raise its head again, this generation will counter it. This rebellion did not seek another dictator; it sought strong democracy and the rule of law.

What did the country gain after bloodshed?

The Gen Z who took to the streets with the simple two-point demand to lift the social media ban and end corruption faced the challenge of deciding in which direction to take the country on the second day. In the meantime, various options began to be presented in the name of Gen Z. The general public got the impression that the protesting Gen Z were themselves divided. The old parties and regressive forces widely propagated this. It was natural for diverse views to emerge when an entire generation rose up in protest and the government suddenly collapsed. In the movement, there was a group that demanded the return of the king and also a group that believed there was no alternative to the republic.

There was an ideology that federalism and inclusiveness should be strengthened, and also the view that federalism should be abolished and reservation should end. There was a group that wanted a directly elected executive prime minister and also a group that believed there should not be a directly elected executive. It was natural for them to form different groups and engage in different activities.

Gen Z groups can be included from different parties in the election; this is the beauty of democracy. Amidst this complexity, they clarified the mandate of the movement in five points by the time former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was made Prime Minister on the recommendation of the protestors: an interim electoral government led by Karki based on this constitution, investigation and punishment for those responsible for the widespread suppression and killing of protestors on September 8, punishment for those intentionally involved in the vandalism, destruction, looting, and murder that occurred on September 9, serious government initiative to end corruption, and free and fair elections on the scheduled date. The Karki government’s mandate is this.

Therefore, it is natural for Gen Z or youth groups with different political views to come forward on the streets and in dialogue. Their main issues are freedom of expression, protection of the country’s independence and sovereignty, an end to corruption, an accountable government, and vast improvements in service delivery. There were and are various opinions on how to advance this politically. That will be the case with every generation. In the situation of a power vacuum created after Oli resigned as prime minister, forming a government that manages the transition while protecting this constitution was the most appropriate option to prevent potential multi-faceted conflict. The protestors gave a mandate to move the country forward through this path.

What did the country gain from the sacrifice of so many people? Was the rebellion only to postpone the election scheduled for 2028 to 2026? This question is heard everywhere now.

The aim of a revolution and rebellion is to overthrow the old regime. It is to destroy the old structure. The Gen Z protest of September 8 and 9 has overthrown the government that had become a den of plunder. Ensuring good governance by ending corruption and creating a situation where youth can earn a living in the country by advancing economic development is a creative task. Ending impunity is also a creative task. The process of creation might be slower in a democratic system, but this is the sustainable process.

Cabinet meeting led by Sushila Karki. Photo: RSS

The upcoming election is an election to implement the mandate of the rebellion. Irrespective of who led the rebellion, it happened, representing the feelings of the common people. This rebellion has sent a message to the three old parties, which had become dens of plunder, to either reform or perish. If these parties do not undergo the restructuring desired by the people, they should be taught a lesson through the ‘ballot box.’ Simultaneously, the protestors should try to convert the mandate of the movement into an electoral mandate with their agendas.

Democracy is the rule of conscience. If there are conscious and rational voters, they will vote for the forces of change. If this does not happen, it may take time for the desires of the rebels to be fulfilled. If we look at the rebellions, revolutions, or movements in Nepal and the elections that followed, the people have always supported the forces of change. After the revolution of 1951, the people voted for the Nepali Congress in the 1958 election. After the change of 1990, the Nepali Congress won the majority in the 1951 election.

When the Nepali Congress did not move towards implementing the mandate of the movement, the people gave the most votes to the CPN-UML in the 1994 midterm election. After the 2005-06 People’s Movement, the Maoists became the largest party in the First Constituent Assembly election in 2008. Nepali voters have also tried to correct the mistake in the second election when the largest party failed to implement the mandate of the revolution or rebellion. After the Maoists failed to promulgate the constitution from the First Constituent Assembly, Nepali voters chose the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML.

Looking at this past, the leaders of the movement must go into the election with clear agendas, programs, and slogans from their own parties. They must be able to make the people understand their agendas, programs, and slogans. If they can form the government with the people’s vote, they must proceed with opening old corruption files, investigating them, and prosecuting cases. Reforms in the police, bureaucracy, judiciary, and CIAA are necessary to end impunity. There might be an expectation that the current government will do all this, but that is not possible. The current government can only lay the groundwork to make it easier for the incoming government.

It is clear that the Gen Z protest did not seek to abolish democracy and the current constitution but to be liberated from old parties like the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and Maoists, which had transformed into gangs exploiting state resources, and their old leadership. It sought liberation from the parties that failed to ensure social justice, economic development, and good governance. That is to say, the meaning of this rebellion is ‘course correction.’