Crisis in Nepal: Gen Z protests shake the nation

Image Credit: Navesh Chitrakar, Reuters

Nation-wide protests in Nepal have rocked the once-thought quite country. Protests enter their second day, and animosity has already accounted for significant damage.

The protests in Nepal arise from a social media movement backed by Generation Z citizens to protest against corruption in the nation. Nepal has had a long, well-documented history of political corruption, which the citizens are crying that they have had enough of.

Cause for the protests spurred after a nation-wide social media ban was implemented. The ban has since been lifted, but the effects of the protests continue to destabilize the country. Beyond that, aggressions were brewing against a perceived culture of 'nepotism' and 'elitism'. According to World Bank, more than 20% of Nepal's population live in poverty; that is 6 million people out of 30 million, as if the metropolitan residents of both Chicago and Los Angeles combined lived in poverty. Millions of Nepali residents moved to the Middle East to find stable work and then attempt to send money back home.

Today's protests are raging across the capital city of Kathmandu, leaving ashes in their wake. The Singha Durbar, the large parliament building containing most of the country's governing ministries, was set ablaze. Numerous other government offices were set on fire along with it. Black smoke can be seen rising from the city, standing tall as an obelisk of gloom and despair.

These protests have forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign following 19 deaths from the first day of the protests. As of this writing, at least 30 have died as a result of the arduous strife, including the prime minister's wife, who was burned alive when her home was set on fire in the calamity. It is currently unclear who will replace Oli as the new prime minister.

Nations across the globe are concerned for the nation. UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said in a social media post:

I am appalled by escalating violence in #Nepal, which has left many young protesters dead or injured. Reports of the disproportionate use of force by the authorities need to be urgently investigated. Dialogue – not violence – is the way forward.

An uneasy calm is beginning to settle in, but it leaves many citizens wondering what the future will hold? How will the nation recover from this? Who will lead next? What measures can be taken to ensure that such destruction is prevented in the future?