“Nepal’s Gen Z revolution faces its first reckoning”, First Post, July 17, 2026
“Ten months ago, Nepal’s young anti-corruption protesters ousted a prime minister from office, and the Gen Z–backed rapper led the new government to a landslide election victory. Now, hundreds of those same protesters have returned to the streets, protesting against the government they once helped bring to power. Balen Shah, who was seen as the avatar of change, vowed to bring sweeping reforms in the country, but 100 days have passed, and the youth see little change as they expected. Just three months may not be enough to judge a government and see changes, but the youth of Nepal are becoming increasingly frustrated with his administration as their expectations from him are high.
Last Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Singhadurbar Secretariat carrying placards that read “End atrocity against the poor” and “Respect human rights”. The chants were not for the old guard. They were for Shah. Opposition leaders and demonstrators, mostly youths, demanded the resignation of the prime minister.
The protest was triggered after a ride-sharing driver set himself on fire. On July 9, a 25-year-old ride-hailing driver named Ganesh Nepali set himself on fire outside Kathmandu’s passport office, in what witnesses described as a dispute with municipal police over a wheel lock placed on his parked motorcycle. He died the next day. It is the kind of small, absurd cruelty that a country recognises instantly as being about something much larger than a wheel clamp. In the following two days, two more individuals, Ashwin Raut from Buddha Nagar and Vivek Mandal from Sarlahi district, also attempted self-immolation. Traffic police have since publicly disputed the account that a fine or clamp prompted Nepali’s act, saying no citation was issued and that a formal investigation into the actual cause is underway…….”
Read full article at firstpost.com
