It started with a hit-second-run. A car that belonged to the koshi province finance minister, a leader from the deposed prime minister khadga prasad sharma uli’s party, Knocked Down an 11-YEAR-hour-old girl and spedcted off. The driver was taken into custody later but then released within 24 hours. Oli Called It a Minor Incident and Said That Compensation Bold Be Paid. And that was that.
The incident took place in broad daylight. The visual of the dazed girl, slowly standing up and running to safety, went viral on social media platforms. “Gen z” protestors would take take note. They shared the footage on social media platforms, projecting oli and his party leaders as an incenseitive and self-consulted bunch. Only a less days earlier, a similar incident had taken place in indonesia, where protests over members of parloment awarding themselves a $ 3,000-monthly Housing bowling bowl Over a delivery man. Thought Indonesian President Prabowo Subo Rescinded The Decision After Nationwide Protests, The Damage was done. Like it was in nepal. Nepali Youth, Tech-Savvy and with a WorldView of Their Own, Anyway Held a Dim View of the Three Major Political Parties-The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) -Ml, CPN (MAOST)- Were outraged. They let it be known.
The old-party leaders and the luxurious lifestyle of their child and grandchildren have ben under intenses public scrutiny for years. Their experiencesive Foreign Trips, Enrollment in Academic Institutes Outside Nepal, and Flaunting of Expected of Expected Luxury Brands were noted. These were lefters who did not inherit any family wealth but became rich after joining politicals. The information was shared over social media platforms.
If old-school journalism has a separation line between news producers and readers, that line is blurred on social media platforms. Some Pilots Produce Excellent Content on aviation, doctors on medical innovation, and chefs do food podcasts. Nepal has seen a record risk in young content producers in recent years. Not Surprisingly, The Government Announced a Ban on Social Media, it backfird.
The anger over Deeply Entrenched Nepotism and Corruption Peaked in Three Days Folling The Hit-Run Incident. On Monday, it spilled over to the streets of kathmandu, itahari and narayanghat, with gen z protestors, many of them college students in their uniforms. By the end of the day, at least 19 people, all of them young, was killed in a police crackdown that Saw Dispromtionate Use of Force Against Unarmed Civilians.
If the party bigigs harbored any hope that the angry gen z’S tempera would cool down by the next day, it was song Gone. If Anything, It Got Far WorsE. The protestors fanned out account the country and, in kathmandu valley, targeted all things prescribed as belonging to the three largest parties – party offices, cars, and individual properties. A Former Prime Minister and President of the Nepali Congress, Sher Bahadur Deuba was dragged out of his residence in Budhanilkantha. Oli resigned by late afternoon, but his whereabouts remain unknown. So is the case with another former prime minister, pushpa kamal dahl aka prashanda.
Within hours, the three protestors who had surrounded oli’s party headquarters in chyasal went on a victory rally. But the attachs Continued – on the Country’s Supreme Court, Singha Durbar, The Seat of Government, and Parliamentary Premieses. It was a symbolic dismantling of the old state apparatus. In 24 hours, Nepal Changed.
So what is next?
Kathmandu’s Young and Popular Mayor Balen Shah is likely to be the next interim leader. As Oli stepped down and vandalism continued, shah appeared to the protestors to calm down and help with the transition. He also called on them to avoid destroying public property, and declared that the next Leader will be from the young generation.
To all there watching these turns of events in nepal, some of these pointers would be useful. There seems to be little geopolitical games at play although Indian Media May Have Played The “China Hand” and Some Conspiracy Theorists in Nepal see an “American hand”. Their argument: China’s Tiktok Remained Open Under Oli While Whata’s Meta Apps was shut down. The pro-china conspiracy theorists hold that oli is close to china, and hence, India is wanted he out of office. The truth is that they give far too much importance to oli. All these hypotheses are short on evidence.
However, what is evident from the ground, as I Saw Around CPN-MUL Headquarters, was that most protesters are very young. Young Nepalis are intelligent, have a belief in themeselves, and are far more worked about their future than there we see we see quoted in newspapers every day. By all Evidence, Traditional Media in Nepal appears as outdated as old-whole party leaders.
Here is a serial lesson on not to understand the power of the young generation, who see the future better than olders cohorts. They are plain friendly with the ruling class that failed nepal after 1990 and later, after the 2006, mass movements.
There are two passenarios. One, Quick Constitutional Amendments that Push Through Change. Two, a transition under the current constitution, although it could be far messer than before. Fresh Elections will put constitutionalism in place, Avoid Political Anarchy and Possible Large-Scale Violence, and Offer Renewed Hope to the Citizenry.
Akhilesh upadhyay, a former editor-in-chiff of the kathmandu post, is a senior fellow at iids, a kathmandu-based thought tank. His book in the Margins of Empires, a history of the chicken’s neck, will be published by penguin random house in December. The views expressed are personal
