By Gopal Sharma
KATHMANDU (Reuters) -When Nepal banned major social media platforms including Facebook last week citing a tide of fake news, activists like Sandip saw it as an attempt to silence their growing online anti-corruption movement.
Stung into action, they turned to still-accessible apps such as Viber and TikTok to rally thousands, sparking protests that left at least 19 protesters dead and ultimately forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli from office on Tuesday.
Their success came 13 months after similar youth-led protests in nearby Bangladesh forced out Sheikh Hasina, who had been prime minister since 2009.
Sandip, a social media influencer who uses one name, said he had made several online appeals, some using virtual private networks to evade the ban, but had not expected so many to pour into the streets in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and elsewhere.
“Every single citizen of Nepal was done with the corrupt government of Nepal,” said the 31-year-old, based in the Lalitpur district near the capital.
“The anger against this government had been brewing for many months, but the call for this protest was very spontaneous.”
Transparency International ranks Nepal 107th out of 180 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index, highlighting persistent governance challenges. Young activists said frustration with inequality and a lack of job opportunities also played a part.
ONE IN FIVE NEPALIS LIVE IN POVERTY
Over 20% of Nepal’s 30 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank, while unemployment among those aged 15–24 stood at more than 22% in 2022-23. The richest 10% earn more than three times the income of the poorest 40%, underscoring stark economic divides.
Gaurav Nepune, a 34-year-old from Kathmandu who led some of the protests, said young people had been running an online campaign for three months to contrast the lives lived by ministers and their families with those of ordinary people.
“The youth are against corruption but the government resorted to violence, trying to silence the movement,” said Nepune.
“We have been continuously urging our people not to indulge in any violence or arson. We now want a government that thinks independently, is corruption-free and does not play into the hands of any neighbours,” he said. India and China are widely seen as jostling for influence in Nepal.
Last year’s protests in Bangladesh ushered in an interim government, with some students in de facto ministerial positions under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
In Nepal, one of the protesters’ popular choices to replace Oli is 35-year-old Balendra Shah, a former rapper and composer who became mayor of Kathmandu since 2022 after a campaign to clean up the city’s streets and waterways.
“Dear @ShahBalen, we’re eagerly waiting your leadership in Nepalese politics,” wrote Bimal Pokhrel in response to a post on X by Shah. “You are the last hope for our nation. Please … step forward to take the leadership as prime minister to guide Nepal toward a brighter future.”
After the protest deaths on Monday, Shah called Oli a “terrorist” who did not understand the “pain of losing a son or daughter”.
On Tuesday, after Oli’s resignation, he urged his nearly 784,000 followers on Instagram to remain calm.
“Dear Gen Z, the resignation of your harassers in politics has already come! Now please be patient,” he wrote. “You and we now need to be restrained! Now your generation will have to lead the country! Be prepared!”
(Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Kevin Liffey)
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