Kathmandu: Nepal Gen Z Protest News: Massive protests in Nepal today pushed the KP Sharma Oli government to the brink as Gen Z protesters took to arson and vandalism in various parts of the tiny Himalayan nation. The protests have escalated a day after the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli revoked a ban on social media, a key trigger for the nationwide protests, to address the "demand of Gen-Z".
Protesters set fire to the home of President Ram Chandra Poudel. Videos of the incident have emerged on social media showing demonstrators roaming through the President's house and vandalising it. Residences of Former Nepali Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda and Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Energy Minister Deepak Khadka were also damaged by protestors.
The Prime Minister is under huge pressure to resign, with more and more ministers resigning and distancing themselves from the government.
A curfew is in place in several parts of the country, including the capital Kathmandu, after demonstrators threw stones and marched on the streets for the second consecutive day.
Police quickly tried to push back the protesters, but appeared not to be using any force, as the anger of demonstrators turned toward the government led by Oli, who has increasingly become unpopular.
Chants of "stop killing children" reverberated through the streets of Kathmandu as protesters marched through them.
"We are here to protest because our youths and friends are getting killed, we are here to seek that justice is done and the present regime is ousted. KP Oli should be chased away," said Narayan Acharya, who was among the protesters outside the battered wall of the parliament building on Tuesday, told Associated Press.
"We need to protest the killings of so many young ones and students, aimed directly at their heads by this Hitler-like KP Oli's government. As long as this government is in power, the people like us will continue to suffer," said Durganah Dahal, another protester.
Several widely used social networks, including Facebook, X and YouTube, were blocked in the Himalayan nation last week after failing to comply with a new requirement to register and submit to government oversight. Monday's rallies against the ban swelled to tens of thousands of people in Kathmandu, and crowds surrounded the Parliament building before police opened fire on the demonstrators.
"Stop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media," the crowds chanted, waving national flags. Monday's rally was called the protest of Gen Z, which generally refers to people born between 1995 and 2010.
Source: NDTV