A-Infos (en) France, OCL - Popular anger erupts in Nepal (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On Monday, September 8, popular protests broke out in Nepal against 
corruption, following the government's ban on several platforms. The 
demonstrations, which had initially begun peacefully with a strong 
mobilization in front of Parliament, were brutally repressed by the 
security forces, resulting so far in 22 deaths and more than 100 
injuries, many of them caused by gunfire. ---- Nepal is a country of 
thirty and a half million inhabitants, of Hindu and Buddhist origin, 
located in South Asia on the border with India and China. With the 
Himalayan mountain range, known as the "roof of the world," it contains 
several of the highest peaks on the planet, including Mount Everest.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli resigned on Tuesday after massive 
protests erupted in Kathmandu, the nation's capital, and spread to 
cities such as Pokhara and Itahari. The prime minister's resignation 
followed that of the Minister of the Interior, Ramesh Lekhak, who had 
stepped down during a cabinet meeting.

Nepal has a capitalist government of class conciliation. At the head of 
the country is a coalition of liberal bourgeois parties and the 
Communist Party of Nepal (CPN, Unified Marxist-Leninist), Maoist in 
orientation. The resigning head of government is a member of the CPN.

The civil war against the monarchy in Nepal took place from 1996 to 
2006. In that same year, an agreement was reached between the 
provisional government of the Seven Party Alliance - a coalition of 
liberal bourgeois parties - and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). In 
2008, a Constituent Assembly was held, abolishing the monarchy and 
establishing a parliamentary democratic republic.

It is a government of class conciliation in which the Communist Party 
participates alongside employer parties, creating confusion about its 
capitalist nature. The same is somewhat true for regimes such as those 
of Venezuela or Nicaragua, which present themselves as "socialist" or 
"left-wing," but in fact implement strict capitalist adjustments and 
govern in agreement with private and transnational corporations.

India, China, and the United States are Nepal's main trading partners. 
In recent years, foreign investment has increased in the country due to 
an agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund in 2022 and 
renewed this year. This has led to a significant rise in unemployment, 
one of the main causes of social unrest in Nepal and the outbreak of the 
recent protests.

Among the foreign companies present in the country are Unilever, 
Coca-Cola, Dabur (an Indian consumer goods company, especially in the 
health sector), Suzuki, Honda, Hyundai, Verisk Nepal (a U.S. software 
company), Cotiviti Nepal (another U.S. software company), and 
Fusemachines (a U.S. company specializing in artificial intelligence), 
among others.

Social media and popular anger

As already mentioned, the spark that ignited the popular uprising was 
the suspension, on September 4, of 26 social media platforms - including 
YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - due to their failure to 
meet the registration deadline set by government authorities. This 
measure was implemented to combat the alleged misuse of the platforms, 
where, according to officials, "some users were spreading hate and 
rumors, committing cybercrimes, and disrupting social balance."

The social media ban was perceived by the popular classes, especially 
young people, as an attempt to impose censorship and to restrict 
criticism of the nepotism and ostentatious lifestyles of the regime's 
leaders and their children.

The Parliament building was occupied by thousands of demonstrators who 
defied the curfew imposed by the government. They later set fires, even 
burning an ambulance, and clashed with the police.

Popular anger - fueled by years of unfulfilled promises, frustration 
with low wages, unemployment, and growing corruption - exploded with the 
suspension of social media. Protesters attacked and burned the homes of 
officials considered corrupt. The wife of former Prime Minister 
Jhalanath Khanal, Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, died when their house was set on 
fire. The Minister of Economy was stripped naked and thrown into a 
river, where he was attacked by demonstrators. Other police officers 
were also assaulted during the protests. The headquarters of a private 
media company, Kantipur Media Group - Nepal's largest media 
conglomerate, which includes newspapers in Nepali and English as well as 
television channels - was also set ablaze and destroyed.

Poverty, corruption, and inequality as driving forces of the protests

The demonstrations are fueled by the extreme poverty of Nepalese 
workers, in stark contrast to the luxury and ostentation of the 
political elite and their families.

Young Nepalese feel frustrated and without a future, weakened by 
inequality and unemployment. According to the World Bank, last year the 
youth unemployment rate in Nepal reached 20%. The annual per capita 
income is about $1,300; 7.5% of the population works abroad, and 
remittances from the diaspora contribute significantly to domestic 
consumption.

The leaders of the three main parties - the Nepali Congress, the 
Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML), and the Communist Party of Nepal 
(Maoist Center) - have been implicated in scandals ranging from the 
so-called Bhutanese refugee fraud to land evasion schemes. Other issues 
include gold smuggling, corruption during reconstruction after the 2015 
earthquake, and, during the pandemic, the mismanagement of COVID-19 
vaccines.

More recently, a network was uncovered that scammed citizens by offering 
trips to Spain under the pretense of attending a UN conference.

The rise of Generation Z in the streets

Weeks before the social media ban, groups of young people organized 
campaigns on these platforms, especially through videos on TikTok, 
highlighting the luxurious lifestyles of politicians' children, who 
shamelessly flaunted their mansions, luxury cars, trips abroad, and 
studies at European universities. This stood in stark contrast to the 
poverty, unemployment, and lack of opportunities faced by millions of 
young people from working-class backgrounds.

The demonstrations were organized by young people who identify as 
"Generation Z," born between 1997 and 2012. The call to mobilize and the 
social media campaign were accompanied by two distinctive hashtags: 
"Nepo Baby" and "Nepo Kids." "Nepo" stands for nepotism. These hashtags 
rapidly gained popularity and went viral, using videos and photos to 
showcase the lavish lifestyles of senior government officials, their 
families, and their children, who have benefited from their parents' 
positions to prosper.

From the International Workers' Unity - Fourth International (IWU-FI), 
we strongly support the mobilizations in Nepal and stand in solidarity 
with the struggle of the Nepalese youth and working people.

The social uprising in Nepal, a little-known country, is yet another 
sign of the deep crisis facing the capitalist system in its phase of 
imperialist decline. An absurd and unequal system that drives peoples 
into poverty and hunger, while politicians and businesspeople enjoy all 
kinds of privileges under the protection of the state and control of the 
natural resources of their countries.

Corruption, ostentation, and the misery of millions create fertile 
ground for the emergence of popular revolts that threaten capitalist 
governments.

Miguel Ángel Hernández, actor
Member of the leadership of the PSL of Venezuela and the IWU-FI.
(written around September 14, 2025)

P.S.
This article was sent to us with a request for publication by comrades 
from the Spanish state affiliated with the "IWU-FI" (International 
Workers' Unity - Fourth International).
We believe it is important to share it given the scarce information 
available about the situation in Nepal.
Source on the "Lucha Internacionalista" website 
->[https://www.luchainternacionalista.org/spip.php?article6130].
If you have other sources, please let us know.

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4525
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