I have to admit that with everything else going on in the world, Nepal was not on my radar.
While they are having a time of it there today, the anger has been building for weeks, and the government was the hand that held the flames that ignited their own pyre.
For starters, there's been a long festering class conflict brewing in the country. The average median household income is a shade over $200 a month, with a youth unemployment rate that tops 20%.
For as desperately poor as they are, there is an extraordinarily wealthy ruling class that lives large, and they love to show it off. In the age of social media, the haves have overlooked the fact that the have-nots also possess cell phones, computers, etc., and access to this media, with the Gen Z bunch being the savviest of all at navigating these platforms.
The sharp contrast of the privileged elite flaunting their lavish lifestyles on TikTok and Instagram, with the eyes of the younger Nepalese upon them, watching from impoverished villages and city slums, wondering how such a lifestyle was possible, has led to protests and calls for anti-corruption investigations of public officials and their families.
Naturally, the elite resisted any impingement on their privilege.
And just as naturally, the excess parading across their phone screens infuriated unemployed and despairing young Nepalese teenagers and twenty-somethings.
So they took matters into their own hands, starting an online campaign to showcase the various excesses and privileged perks of being a child of a Nepalese political official - a shaming 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous' exercise if you will.
...a social media campaign — particularly on video-sharing platform TikTok — spotlighted the lavish lifestyles of politicians’ children, highlighting disparities between Nepal’s rich and poor. Protesters criticized them of flaunting their luxury possessions in a country where the per capita income is $1,400 a year.
Widespread criticism over government’s failure to pursue some major corruption cases and create more economic opportunities for the youth also added to the anger. The youth unemployment rate in Nepal was 20% last year, according to the World Bank.
“All these issues have made the youth of Nepal dissatisfied. They saw no other option but to take to the streets,” said Pradhan.
The deep-seated resentment and anger have been building for years and have been ignored.
...But as that campaign suggests, the demonstrations are about more than social media. For years, Nepali citizens have railed against the state of their country’s politics, decrying the system as corrupt and unable to address long-standing public concerns—especially economic stress. Nepal’s merry-go-round of coalition politics has resulted in 14 different governments since 2008.
This deep public mistrust emerged during large protests earlier this year that called for the restoration of the monarchy. Rather than genuine support for monarchical rule, these protests seemed to indicate just how angry people were at a supposedly democratic system that, in their view, ignores the needs of the masses.
In a gobsmackingly tone-deaf move, the government - instead of telling their 'nepo babies' to cool it with the ostentatious displays - laid the hammer down and banned most of all the social media platforms on the flimsiest of excuses. And no one was falling for it.
Nepal blocks Facebook, X, YouTube and others for failing to register with the government
Nepal’s government said Thursday it is blocking most social media platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube because the companies failed to comply with regulations that required them to register with the government.
Nepal’s Minister for Communication and Information Prithvi Subba Gurung said about two dozen social network platforms that are widely used in Nepal were repeatedly given notices to come forward and register their companies officially in the country. The platforms would be blocked immediately, he said.
TikTok, Viber and three other social media platforms would be allowed to operate in Nepal because they have registered with the government.
BOOMITY
...Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli also rolled backed the short-lived ban after protesters turned their anger on politicians by setting fire to homes of some of the country’s top leaders.
Led by mostly teenagers and young adults, the protests revealed a broader resentment in Nepal, where many people have increasingly become angry with the government over a range of issues, mostly to do with corruption and frustration over nepotism in the country’s politics.
“Protests over the social media ban were just a catalyst. Frustrations over how the country is being run have long been simmering under the surface. People are very angry and Nepal finds itself in a very precarious situation,” said Prateek Pradhan, editor of Baahrakhari, a Nepalese independent news website.
Yesterday, it started blowing out of control when police opened fire on protestors, killing 19. Today, protestors were back and lighting off fires in buildings from the parliament to individual politicians' homes, even as Army helicopters attempted to evacuate frantic officials trying to leave before the mobs came for them.
Protests against Nepal’s short-lived ban on social media grew increasingly violent Tuesday as demonstrators set government buildings and politicians’ homes on fire and attacked some leaders. The prime minister resigned amid widening criticism of the country’s political elite.
The resignation appeared to have little effect on the unrest. Tens of thousands of protesters remained on the streets late in the day, blocking roads and storming government facilities. Army helicopters ferried some ministers to safe places.
A day earlier, demonstrations led by young people angry about the blocking of several social media sites gripped the capital, and police opened fire on the crowds, killing 19 people.
In Nepal, corrupt politicians and police escape by helicopter. pic.twitter.com/gmQLUwFkym
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) September 9, 2025
The finance minister tried to leave, but not in time to save himself. Furious protestors stripped his clothes from his body and drove him into the river.
BREAKING 🚨 Incredible scenes from Nepal: Parliament burning down as massive numbers of protesters storm government zone
— RUNNER TUSHAR (@TUXHXR_X) September 9, 2025
pic.twitter.com/64grxuy8hm
They destroyed the state media building.
Protesters have torched Nepal’s communist government’s state media publication. It has all gone up in flames as the nation rises up to overthrow the Marxists who imposed a total ban on social media days earlier.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 9, 2025
pic.twitter.com/NooWJbb8Dy
The prime minister resigned, but it hasn't mollified a lick of the anger boiling along in the streets.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has resigned amid Nepal's worst unrest in decades, as public anger mounts over the deaths of 19 anti-corruption protesters in clashes with police on Monday.
On Tuesday, crowds set fire to parliament in the capital Kathmandu, sending thick black smoke billowing into the sky. Government buildings and the houses of political leaders were attacked around the country.
Three more deaths were reported on Tuesday. Amid the chaos, jail officials said 900 inmates managed to escape from two prisons in Nepal's western districts.
The demonstrations were triggered by a ban on social media platforms. It was lifted on Monday - but by then protests had swelled into a mass movement.
Nepal's army chief issued a statement late on Tuesday accusing demonstrators of taking advantage of the current crisis by damaging, looting and setting fire to public and private property.
They burned his home for good measure.
Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Oli’s house was set on fire. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/CqWYUk5dTQ
— BALA (@erbmjha) September 9, 2025
Anarchy reigns.
Protesters in Nepal have attacked and burnt down the houses of Nepal's President, Prime Minister and other Ministers.
— With Love Bihar (@WithLoveBihar) September 9, 2025
Kathmandu airport has stopped all operations.#NepalGenZProtest pic.twitter.com/MHfWdAzqfb
The house of a former prime minister was torched by the crowds as well, reportedly incinerating his wife as the house went up in flames.
Nepal is having a total revolution as young people overthrow the communist government following efforts by that government to impose widespread censorship and a total ban on social media.
— RUNNER TUSHAR (@TUXHXR_X) September 9, 2025
pic.twitter.com/keS1fIwF7t
How and who in Nepal is left that can get a handle on this is the question at this point.
The fires and the anger will have to burn themselves out first, and they'll have to see what's left in the ashes.
The old truism holds, though - ignore the people at your peril.
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