A placard with "Wanted" posters of major Nepali political leaders, including Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, held aloft and amid Nepali national flags at a youth protest in Kathmandu

A placard with "Wanted" posters of major Nepali political leaders, including Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli (right), at a Gen Z protest against corruption and a social-media ban. Many in Nepal's young generation will never forget that the very first protest they led was met with a hail of bullets.IMAGO / NurPhoto

Nepal’s K P Oli government has murdered 19 people

Police opened fire on Gen Z protests against corruption and a social-media ban, leaving 19 dead in the deadliest day of protest in Nepal’s history

Pranaya Rana is a writer and journalist based in Kathmandu. He is the author of 'City of Dreams: Stories' and runs the newsletter Kalam Weekly.

Published on:

09 Sep 2025, 4:23 am

This story first appeared in Kalam Weekly. It has been republished with updates and edits.

Monday, 8 September, started out optimistic. A Gen Z protest against institutionalised corruption and nepotism, sparked by a recent ban on 26 social media apps, was planned for the morning all across Nepal, and spirits were high. Protests were planned in most major cities, including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Butwal.

At Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu, young Nepalis were out in force. Thousands of them, many in their school and college uniforms, had gathered to protest the dismal state of the country, where the powerful and their children live lavish lives of luxury while the rest languish in India, Malaysia, South Korea and West Asia, toiling for remittances to send back to their families.

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Nepal