Tiktok, Discord and Reddit: how a Gen Z revolution has turned upside down the government of Nepal
It was a 48 -hour whirlwind that started with thousands of young people who went to the streets of the capital of Nepal, Katmandu, to protest and ended with emblematic government buildings and the Prime Minister of the country hunted.
The vertiginous speed to which the young generation of the country overthrew the leader government of Nepal, using social media sites such as Tiktok and Discord to organize, is always something that those who call for change deal.
“It was not planned to be a revolution,” said Tanuja Pandey, a 25 -year -old lawyer and environmental activist.
It was involved in the demonstration and played a key role in what started as a basic movement without a leader fueled by anger against corruption and the ruling elite of the country – but even it was caught up in the way it mounted.
“I think shocked is the right word to use,” Pandey told CBC News. “It’s traumatic and painful, because we have lost many of our friends.”
The Prime Minister of Nepal resigned with at least 22 dead, the parliament of the country in flames and its main airport stopped during a violent revolt. The troubles started with a ban on social media and became a broader anti-corruption demonstration.
According to officials, seventy-four people died during the demonstrations: 61 demonstrators, three police officers and 10 detainees who tried to escape from the guard during chaos, according to officials. More than 2,100 people were injured.
Two weeks after the demonstrations broke out, the Southern Asian country already has a new acting Prime Minister, an electoral date set at the beginning of next year – and a judicial commission created to investigate violence during the two days of confrontations that overthrew the government.
But even if the feeling of accomplishment in the holding of the Nepalese government responsible is tinted to regret at its price, said Pandey, it was “necessary”.
“I saw the same faces in power all my life,” she said.
Another demonstrator, Sajan Shrestha, told CBC News that uncertainty about the future of Nepal could be overcome.
“We can revolutionize this country better than our grandparents,” said Shrestha, a 25-year-old independent software developer in Kathmandu. “Everything on the (steering system) must be dissolved, and a new generation can get up to form a better country.”
Anger against “nepo children”
The revolution began with calls to demonstrate, triggered by an unpopular government prohibition on 26 social media platforms that many considered a way to stifle freedom of expression.
But the underlying thread of anti-corruption demonstrations was a deep anger and resentment in the face of the disparity between the life of the Nepalese youth of the working class and the children of politicians.
A viral movement calling “Nepo Kids” exposed the way some children of the leading elite display their exotic vacation, luxury cars and luxury clothes.
One photo in particular, showing the son of a provincial minister posing next to a large stack of gift boxes of creators garnished with a hats of Santa Claus, caused a generalized rage.
Many young people in Nepal, one of the poorest and most politically unstable countries in Asia, must leave the country to find work, because the unemployment rate of young people is more than 20%.
Operate Tiktok and Discord
Videos with hashtags #nepokids and #nepobabies spread quickly via Tiktok, Instagram and Reddit at the end of August and early September.
Tiktok was one of the few platforms that was not limited to the ban and it became a key tool to mobilize the demonstrators before and September 8.
But after the violent protests prompted the Nepal army to take control of the streets and impose a curfew for several days, another social media site took the scene.
Cameras captured a fire at the Katmandu residence in Kp Sharma Oli, who resigned from his post as Prime Minister of Nepal as an anti-corruption and anti-government protest in the degreased country.
The discussions have mainly moved to Discord, a cat platform popularized by video players, which has become a center where students debated who should be the acting leader in the country.
They finally settled in an online vote on Sushila Karki, a former chief judge of the Supreme Court of Nepal.
At 73, Karki built the reputation of being firmly opposed to corruption in the country.
Once Karkki was sworn in, the popular Instagram account Gen.znepal, which shared updates on the events, published a festive message that spoke directly to the young people of the country.
“Honorable PM Sushila Karki… Slayyy 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾 💅🏾”, en utilisant un emoji qui signifie Sass et confiance en soi. (For Genzers, “Slay” is a compliment.)
Another regime in South Asian falls
The Protest of the Gen Z of Nepal is part of a trend that is difficult to ignore in South Asia.
It is the third country in the region in the past four years to see violent demonstrations overthrowing the government, fed by a young generation in fed up of cronyism, corruption and a lack of economic opportunities.
In 2022, young demonstrators in Sri Lanka organized four months of demonstrations against a buyout economy, succeeding in bringing down the dominant political dynasty of Rajapaksa after the crowd stormed the president’s residence and forced him to flee.
Then it was the Bangladesh. Last year, the students went down to the street for weeks of violent protests who ended up loosening the grip of Minister Sheikh Hasina of the time, leading her to take refuge in neighboring India.
Although each case is unique, there are large similarities, according to Paul Staniland, professor of political science at the University of Chicago and a non -resident scholar in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace program in South Asia.
Each of the three diets was part of the same “perfect storm” which led to their fall, including a feeling of economic stagnation, felt the most strongly among the young generation, said Staniland, who, coupled with a political elite “considered as corrupt and ineffective, is a fairly bad combination”.
An increase in anger in each country was powerful enough to lower the government to power, and social media played a key role in the organization of demonstrations and the quickly dissemination of information on the initial response of each government.
The army also arrived in the foreground in each case, because the only neutral body left with any influence to lead the countries away from a political emptiness.
“It’s a reminder,” said Staniland. “When the thrust arrives at the thrust and civil governments collapse, the military can be the last powerful actor still standing up.”
A way of managing the transition that is not without its dangers, such as military surpassing.
“The next time there is a crisis, everyone begins to call the army chief?” Staniland said.
So what is the next step?
Pandey and other people who have assumed leadership roles in the demonstrations of Nepal are now concerned about a question: now?
The elections are fixed in early March. But Nepal is a country constantly prey to political instability and has seen 17 governments since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.
Similar young movements in neighboring countries have not yet resulted in a fundamental social change, Bangladesh still finding it difficult to dismantle a deeply rooted system while it tries to implement large reforms.
The economy of Sri Lanka is fragile and is slowly recovered, but prosperity is always out of reach for many.
The young Nepalese activist is also concerned that hatred is directed online.
“The things that keep us awake at night are the divisions (in public speech),” said Pandey, highlighting his concern that people interpret what the movement of young people represents.
For three generations of the Khadka family, who sat to speak to CBC News at their home in eastern Kathmandu, there is also a mixture of concern and relief that the ruling party has disappeared.
Matriarch Man Maya Khadka, 93, was worried about the damage caused to the buildings, while his son Dhal Khadka, 58, said that he was worried that the heart of the anti-corruption message, the demonstrators were trying to highlight themselves.
But the youngest blood Khadka, 25, was full of hope on the ideals of the demonstration led by his generation.
“This is the message we can send to the world – nothing is impossible.”
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