There are decades when nothing happens, and days when decades happen. Two days — September 8 and 9 — changed the face of modern Nepal, figuratively and literally. What is happening in the country now is unprecedented. The entire state apparatus has been swept away. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has resigned, and the federal Parliament is nominally suspended. The office of the president, held by Ram Chandra Poudel, is the last institution standing.
The media have been scrambling to cover the events of the past week. But with major media houses like Kantipur burned down in the riots, and no guardrails in the online discourse on what is and is not true, Nepal is rife with misinformation, rumors, and hearsay. It hasn’t helped that the Gen Z protestors, whose demonstration against nepotism and corruption set the whole train of events in motion, do not have an official spokesperson or even an official leadership structure. In the information vacuum, fears have run high of a possible army coup, or Indian infiltration, or a return of the monarchy.
In this newsletter, I will try to provide a comprehensive overview of the Gen Z protests and the events that have unfolded over the past week. I hope this can serve as a resource for those in Nepal and beyond who seek to gain a deeper understanding of what has happened.
Let’s begin….
https://kalamweekly.substack.com/p/a-primer-for-what-is-happening-in
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
An anguished pro-democracy voice from Nepal / Dr Sanduik Ruit calling for restraint
After the truth-shower 