Youth Power

Since Monday, the streets of Kathmandu and several Nepali towns been filled with a new kind of energy — that of Gen Z. Young Nepalis, many still in their teens and early twenties, have come out in spontaneous demonstrations against corruption in the country and against the state’s attempt to block social media, the very platform that gave them their collective voice. What began as scattered calls online soon transformed into one of the largest youth-led civic movements Nepal has seen in recent years.

The response of the state, however, has been not only dismissive but violent. Protests held yesterday and today were met first with tear gas and water cannons, and then, tragically, with live ammunition. At least 19 young demonstrators have lost their lives and over 400 have been injured. The Kathmandu district administration is reported to have authorised the full use of force against protestors after some vandalised public property and infiltrated the Parliament grounds. But the scale of force unleashed on largely peaceful demonstrators raises grave concerns about democratic freedoms in Nepal.

Free speech is not a privilege to be rationed by governments; it is the foundation of democracy itself. When states curtail platforms of expression, or worse, resort to bullets against those demanding accountability, they corrode the very institutions they claim to defend. The attempt to silence protestors through social media blackouts and brute force reveals the government’s deepest fear — fear of transparency, scrutiny, and of a generation unwilling to quietly inherit the failures of the past.

Corruption in Nepal is not new, nor is the anger it generates. What is new, however, is the clarity with which this generation articulates its frustration. Unlike older generations, tied down by party loyalties and ideological divides, Gen Z speaks in the language of justice, opportunity, and dignity. Their protests are not about nostalgia; they are about survival and fairness in the present.

It is tempting for political leaders to dismiss such uprisings as youthful restlessness that will fade. But history shows otherwise: when the young rise against corruption and injustice, they often reshape national discourse, if not governance itself. Nepal’s leadership would do well to heed this truth before more lives are lost.

Democracy is not measured by how loudly leaders speak but by how attentively they listen. The blood of 19 young citizens now stains the conscience of the state. To silence their cry with bullets, batons, and internet blackouts is to betray the very essence of democracy.

The youth of Nepal are reminding the world that free speech is not merely about the right to speak — it is about the power to demand a better future. To ignore them, or to kill them, is to kill democracy itself.