By: Samantha Golston
Picture Source: NPR
As some of us may have heard, read or maybe even seen, the Nepali government has been “overthrown” by its Gen Z citizens in less than three days with protests, resulting in the burning of government property and 74 deaths. Now as “cool” and “minimal” as it may sound, let’s find out the truth. Let’s get the inside scoop on Nepal and Gen Z.
Let’s start with the beginning, Nepal’s government before the take down. After a long civil war, it had finally become a republic in 2008, and even after its declaration of independence they had no way of stability. In only 17 years they have had 14 different governments and none of their leaders had completed a full term. It became a power struggle between different parties such as KP Sharma Oli who gave up their position after the protest. In this confusion Nepal GDP per capita was under $1,500 making it the poorest country in South Asia, second only to Afghanistan. As this position doesn’t provide money for the people, about 14% of the population worked overseas to bring money to the home.
Now, we are ready for what actually happened. The protest began on Sept. 8 where it was peaceful, the people were singing old Nepali songs and once they got up to march the police accompanied them to ensure their safety. But as they marched on more people came, and some with malicious intent. By the end of the first day the parliament had attempted to be breached which led to the police using weapons. With these actions the next day was chaos, they had gotten to the parliament and burned it down along
with the prime minister’s office and other government property. While it was only one day a lot of destruction was caused, so much so that the military was called and a curfew was in place for a few days. For now, the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki was appointed interim prime minister which was approved by the people via Discord, a messaging app. In this chaos 74 people have passed. The people have begun to mourn with a national mourning day called Kathmandu.
I find it fair and reasonable for the people to have a reaction like this, with a failing government and virtually no future in the country. Protests were bound to be made but it went off the rails as the others with different intent joined the movement inciting violence and dismay although it may have gotten them where they were aiming to be. It was with a price, a price of 74 lives. Now, not every or even one revolution will have no deaths or this small number of them, but that should never excuse their life and future.
