Kathmandu, Sep 7 (IANS) Hours after at least 19 people were confirmed dead and over 300 injured during the anti-government protests by the youths that rocked Kathmandu on Monday, Nepal’s Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, who also serves as the government spokesperson, revealed that anarchists and reactionaries had infiltrated the Gen-Z movement which had organised the demonstrations across the country.
Giving a brief response to journalists, Gurung said that demonstrations and arson had spread into sensitive areas beyond the original agenda.
“The demands of the Gen-Z movement were the investigation of corruption and the restoration of banned social media, but major government offices were targetted with vandalism,” he said, adding, “after that, tragic incidents occurred.”
Expressing sorrow over the large number of deaths during the protests, he blamed the “reactionary and anarchist” forces that allegedly infiltrated the demonstrations with the intention of seizing power.
According to Ananda Kafle, spokesperson for Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 19 people were confirmed dead till Monday evening during the anti-government protests in the country after police opened fire against the protestors allegedly involved in vandalism of the government buildings.
A group of youths calling themselves Gen-Z had organised the protests in Kathmandu and elsewhere against the alleged corruption and Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli government’s ban on several social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, X, WeChat among others for their failure to be listed with the government authorities.
“The police had to use force with the permission of the local administration to control the crowd,” said Nepal Police spokesperson DIG Binod Ghimire.
The protests were organised by an unorganised group of youths who coined the protest Gen-Z movement.
Even though the protests were organised in various major cities of the country, protests in Kathmandu Valley turned violent as a group of protesters entered into the compound of Nepal’s parliamentary building by breaking police barricades.
According to police officials, at least 17 people died in Kathmandu alone during the clashes.
Immediately, Kathmandu’s local administration imposed a curfew in the vicinity of the parliamentary building. It was later also extended to other areas close to vital state bodies, including Singh Durbar, the main administrative centre of Nepali government, Prime Minister’s official residence, President and Vice-Presidents’ offices.
Protests continued at the restrictive areas amid curfew and more people reportedly died during the police firing.
Even though the organiser of the mass protest had taken permission from local administration for holding a “peaceful protest”, the protest turned violent leading to the loss of several lives. In a press statement, the leadership of the Gen-Z movement said that infiltration of unwanted groups resulted in violence. “They (unwanted group) resorted to vandalism and tried to enter the parliament building forcefully leading to violence.”
A former senior Nepali Police officer however blamed the intelligence failure behind the violent incidents.
“The government intelligence failed to assess the situation properly that led to unfortunate humanitarian losses,” said former Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Hemanta Malla. “Had they assessed the scale of mass protest and prepared themselves for the situation, they could have managed the situation properly,” he said.
He said that the government also used excessive force to control the crowd which resulted in several deaths and injuries.
There are reports of sporadic clashes between police and protestors in various cities of the country, including in eastern Jhapa district, the hometown of Prime Minister Oli.
According to reports, during an anti-corruption protest by Gen-Z youths in Damak and Jhapa, at least a dozen demonstrators were injured during the clashes between police and protestors. Protesting youths pelted stones at the residence of Prime Minister Oli in Jhapa.
The young demonstrators set fire to the office of the Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City in Sunsari and the local administration imposed an indefinite curfew.
The protest in Kathmandu attracted a massive crowd from early morning at the heart of Kathmandu city amid disillusionment of young people with the existing political leadership. With the Nepali government prohibiting over two dozen popular apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, WeChat among others since September 5, those organising the protests had called for protests on Monday through TikTok, the popular social media app that remained unbanned because it has registered with the government authorities.
A social media trend, ‘Nepo Kid’, was observed spreading rapidly in Nepal in recent days as young people accused the children of politicians and influential figures of enjoying privileges funded by corruption while ordinary people struggle.
The terms ‘Nepo Kid’, and ‘Nepo Baby’ are the words indicating nepotism.
Amid growing complaints of corruption, social media has remained a platform for the youths to vent anger against growing corruption in the country. After several social media apps were barred from being operational, the youths launched protests against the government’s move with demands including lifting the ban on social media apps and ending corruption.
Political analysts say that the massive crowd attracted by the Gen-Z movement indicates the growing frustration of the youths with the political elites of Nepal.
“In the last one year, we are seeing sporadic unorganised protests against alleged corruption and nepotism,” said Arun Subedi, a political analyst who also served as a foreign policy advisor to former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
“As political leaders have failed to mend their ways, youth frustrations poured during a massive protest on Monday,” he emphasised.
The deep sense of injustice, he said, contributed to bringing large crowds for the street protests as many view that political leaders, their kin and cronies are enjoying lavish lifestyles while the ordinary people are suffering.
Nearly a million Nepalis left the country for foreign employment in fiscal year 2024-25 that ended in mid-July and limited employment opportunities in the country, according to a government report.
Similarly, thousands of students move abroad for study where they also search for employment.
“It is the collective failure of Nepal’s political leadership,” said Subedi.
Last year, Bangladesh saw massive student protests that led to the fleeing of long time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India.
“Nepal’s situation is different compared to Bangladesh where Hasina had to leave not due to economic failure but repression of opposition voices,” said Subedi. “In the case of Nepal, it is the economic failure and corruption that brought protestors in the street,” he stated.
–IANS
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