The charred ruins of Nepal’s presidential building provided a stark backdrop for a moment of political renewal on September 16, as three newly appointed ministers took their oaths of office under a tent pitched in a courtyard littered with broken glass. The symbolism was unavoidable: a nation scarred by fire and unrest is attempting to rise from the wreckage of its own disillusionment.

The swearing-in marked the first steps of Nepal’s interim government, led by Sushila Karki, the country’s first female prime minister, after weeks of turmoil forced former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and his cabinet to resign.

The mass protests that toppled the government began on September 4 when authorities imposed a sudden ban on social media platforms, citing compliance issues with registration. To many, however, the move was a thinly veiled attempt to silence dissent, especially as online debates about political privilege and corruption-mockingly dubbed the “nepo baby” controversy-were gaining momentum. Outrage turned into fury, and fury into flames.

By September 9, Oli’s government had collapsed under the weight of nationwide unrest that left at least 72 people dead and around 1,400 injured. Parliament, the presidential palace, and even the Supreme Court building were torched, alongside police stations and ministry offices. For a week, Kathmandu and other major cities resembled battlefields, with smoke rising from government complexes and protesters clashing with heavily armed security forces.

The protests were driven primarily by Nepal’s Gen Z-young people disillusioned by the widening gap between political elites and ordinary citizens. For many in this generation, the ostentatious lifestyles flaunted by politicians’ children on social media, often at odds with the grinding poverty faced by ordinary Nepalis, became the final insult.

While corruption has long been a sore point in Nepal, the new generation of activists is impatient for........

© Blitz