Nepal’s staggering journey from Gen Z protests to new government

This story has been co-published with Kalam Weekly.

There are decades when nothing happens, and then days when decades happen. Two days – 8 and 9 September – changed the face of modern Nepal, figuratively and literally. What is happening in the country now is unprecedented. The entire state apparatus has been swept away. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has resigned and the federal parliament is nominally suspended. The office of the president – held by Ram Chandra Poudel – is the last institution standing. 

The media has been scrambling to cover the events of the past week. But with major media houses like Kantipur burnt down in riots, and no guardrails in online discourse on what is and is not true, Nepal is rife with misinformation, rumours and hearsay. It has not helped that the Gen Z protesters whose demonstration against nepotism and corruption set the whole train of events in motion do not have an official spokesperson or even an official leadership structure. In an information vacuum, fears have run high of a possible army coup, of Indian infiltration, of a return of the monarchy.

Here, I try to provide an overview of the Gen Z protests and the events that have unfolded over the past week. I hope this can serve as a resource for those both inside and outside Nepal seeking to better understand what has happened. 

Let’s begin.