Tiktok, Discord and Reddit: How the Gen Z Revolution raised the Nepal government

It was a 48 -hour tweak that started with thousands of young people who take the streets of the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, in protest and ended with creative government buildings coming out of the country’s Prime Minister.

The amazing speed that the younger generation toppled in the country toppled the Nepal government toppled, using social media sites such as Tiktok and Discord to organize, is still something to change.

“It was not a revolution,” said Tanuja Bandy, a 25 -year -old lawyer and an environmental activist.

She was involved in protesting and assumed a major role in what began as a harsh movement without leadership that fueled by anger from corruption and the ruling elite in the country – but even was subjected to protection from how it stumbled.

“I think the shock is the correct word for use,” Pandness told CBC News. “It is a painful and painful, because we have lost many of our friends.”

Seventy -four people died in the protests: 61 demonstrators, three police officers, and 10 prisoners who tried to escape custody during chaos, according to officials. More than 2,100 people were injured.

Two weeks after the outbreaks of the protests, there is already a country in South Asia as a new temporary president, and the date of a specific election in early next year – and a judicial committee created to investigate violence within two days of the clashes that overthrew the government.

But even if the feeling of achievement in accounting the Nepalese government was regretted, it is regrettable, as Pandnesse said, it was “required.”

She said, “I have seen the same faces in power all my life.”

Another protester, Sagan Shirsta, told CBC News that uncertainty could be overcome about the future of Nepal.

“We can make a revolution in this country better than our ancestors,” said Shrsta, a 25 -year -old independent program developer in Kathmandu. “Everything must be resolved from (the ruling system), and a new generation can rise to form a better country.”

Anger against “Nipo Children”

The revolution began with calls to show, which was ignited by an unpopular government embargo on 26 social media platforms, which many saw as a way to strangle freedom of expression.

But the main thread of protests to combat corruption was deep anger and resentment between the lives of Nepalese youth from the working class and the children of politicians.

A viral movement calling for “Nebu’s children” revealed how some of the ruling elite children boasted with their strange holidays, luxury cars and luxury clothes.

One of the pictures in particular, the son of a regional minister showing a large group of funds designed for the gift covered with the Santa hat, provoked widespread anger.

Many young people in Nepal, one of the poorest and most political stable countries in Asia, have to leave the country to find work, because the youth unemployment rate exceeds more than 20 percent.

Tiktok and Discord

Videos are spread with #Nepokids, #Nepobabies, through Tiktok, Instagram, and Reddit in late August and early September.

Tiktok was one of the few platforms that were not limited to the ban and became an essential tool for mobilizing the demonstrators before and 8 September.

But after violent protests prompted the Nepal army to control the streets and impose a curfew for several days, the other social media site occupied the lead center.

Discussions mainly turned into Discord, a popular chat platform by video players, which became a center where students who should be the temporary leader of the country.

They eventually settled, in an online vote, on Social Karki, head of the Supreme Court of Nepal.

In 73, Karki built a reputation that it firmly opposed corruption in the country.

Once I swear Karki, the famous Instagram account Gen.znepal, who was sharing updates on the protests, made a festive message that spoke directly with the country’s youth.

“PM Honoraable PM Sushila Karki … Slayyy 💅🏾,” I have read, using expressive symbols that mean self -confidence. (For GM, “Slay” is courtesy.)

Another system in South Asia falls

Nepal’s Gen Z’s protest is part of the difficult trend in South Asia.

It is the third country in the region in the past four years that see the violent protests that have overcome the government, which is fueled by a young generation that has been tired of favoritism, corruption and lack of economic opportunities.

In 2022, the young demonstrators in Sri Lanka organized four months of protests against a swinging economy, and they succeeded in bringing the political family in Rajapaxa the dominant after the crowds stormed the headquarters of the president and forced him to flee.

Then, Bangladesh was. Last year, the students moved to the streets for weeks of violent protests that ended in the matter to alleviate the grip of the then Minister of Ministers, Sheikh Husaynah, which led her to resort to neighboring India.

Although each case is unique, there are some extensive similarities, according to Paul Stanillaland, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and an unvere scientist on the Carnegie program for South Asian International Program.

Steanland said that each of the three systems was part of the same “ideal storm” that led to its fall, including the feeling of economic stagnation, which felt a greater degree between the younger generation, which, along with the political elite “which is considered corrupt and ineffective, is a very bad mix.”

There was an increase in anger in every country that was strong enough to topple the ruling government, and social media played a major role in organizing protests and rapidly spreading information about the initial response to each government.

The army also came to the forefront in every case, as the only neutral body left with any influence of the leadership of the two countries from a political vacuum.

“It is a reminder,” Stanilland said. “When it comes to payment and civil governments collapsed, armies can be the last strong, coherent actor still exists.”

A way to manage the transition that is not without its risks, such as military transcendence.

“The next time there is a crisis, will everyone start calling the army commander?” Stanland said.

So, what next?

Pandness and others who have taken leadership roles in Nepal’s protests are now busy with one question: Now what?

The elections were appointed in early March. But Nepal is a country that has been constantly afflicted with political instability and has witnessed 17 governments since the cancellation of the monarchy in 2008.

Similar youth movements in neighboring countries have not been translated into a fundamental social change, as Bangladesh is still fighting to dismantle a deeply firm system as it tries to implement widespread reforms.

Lanka’s secret economy is slowly recovering, but prosperity is still far -reaching for many.

The young Nepalese activist is also concerned about the hatred that is directed on the Internet.

“The things that keep us wake up at night are divisions (in public discourse),” Pandness said, while highlighting their concern that people misunderstand what the youth movement represents.

For three generations of the Khadka family, who sat to speak to CBC News at their home in East Kathmando, there is also a mixture of anxiety and relief that disappeared the ruling party.

Maya Maya Khadika, 93, said concerned about the damage to the buildings, while her son Dal Khadka, 58, said he was concerned that the essence of the anti -corruption message that the demonstrators were trying to highlight “may be angry” through the uncomfortable situation now, Nepal finds himself in it.

But 25 -year -old Sanjin Khadka was full of hope for protesting his generation.

“This is the message we can send to the world – nothing is impossible.”