Government buildings on flames, ministers on the run, dead and injured on the streets: in Kathmandu are hours of extreme agitation and the scenes that arrive for the second consecutive day are those of a real social revolt. How come? What is happening in Nepal? What does Gen Z have to do with it?
Hundreds are the people, many of whom are young students, who are protesting in the capital, setting fire on Tuesday to the buildings of Parliament and the Supreme Court, the police stations and the homes of politicians. A series of violent demonstrations that continue despite the resignation of the prime minister and the revocation of the government ban on social media that had triggered the widespread anger.
That’s right: the trigger (and not only) would have been the decision of the authorities to block most of the social media platforms, starting from Facebook, X and YouTube, saying that companies had not been able to register and undergo the supervision of the government.
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In Nepal the fuse is the ban on social media but anger comes from afar
A ban extended to 26 social platforms (including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube) has triggered these guided protests mainly by Gen Z throughout Nepal.
The narrow – presented as a measure against hatred and disinformation – has become the catalyst of a deeper discontent: Systemic corruption, nepotism, inequalities and lack of work for young people. The clashes with the police caused At least 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries, the prime minister KP Sharma Oli He resigned; The government has Revocated or suspended the ban and has promised an investigation, while curfew and restrictions have taken place in several cities.
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At the base of everything there would therefore be substantially a generational clash between an aged political leadership and the younger citizens, frustrated by corruption, unemployment and income disparities and today the images of the Minister of Finance forced to escape naked in the river to escape the fury of the demonstrators say long on a popular anger that had been latent for too long for too long:
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What you need to know for foreign tourists
In the meantime, foreign tourists remain blocked in Kathmandu: all international flights have been deleted, the airport is closed and the authorities have activated shuttles to connect the stopover to the main hotels in the capital.
Farnesina recommends “DI limit the movements to the maximum, to respect the curfew and instructions provided by the local authorities, keeping up to date through the information means in English“For emergencies, contact the Consulate General of Italy in Calcutta, competent for Nepal, at the number 0091 9831212216.
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Sources: Reuters / The Guardian
