Gen Z vs Censorship: A Fight for Freedom in Nepal

Gen Z is often described as incapable, overly social, trendy, and having little interest in politics. Moreover, it is now the same youth who brought down the Nepalese government. On September 8, 2025, Kathmandu woke up restless with a sudden ban on social media and tighter censorship which ultimately lit the spark, but what really spilled young people into the streets ran much deeper. They spoke of their freedom of speech being strangled, but also of the weight they had carried for years—corruption, joblessness, ministers hiring their own, a government deaf to its own people. Most were standing shoulder to shoulder in their twenties some even younger, angry but determined.

Initially, the protests felt like a student gathering, loud and clear. Later on, the course of the event changed and descended into chaos with tear gas, batons, and police charging into the crowd. Chaos cracked open the calm. By nightfall, gunshots echoed. Nineteen young men and women lay dead. Over two hundred were wounded. The inferno that spread was impossible to contain. What began as a protest in Kathmandu spread into Pokhara, Biratnagar, and Lalitpur. City after city rising and burning in the fire of the protest.

The pressure was mounting and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had to step down to douse off the fire. But resignation didn’t calm the fury. Protesters stormed the parliament, government offices, even the prime minister’s residence. Flames climbed into the night sky. Former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal’s house was torched while his wife, Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, was trapped inside. She never made it out. On the streets, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Pednekar was chased, cornered, and beaten nearly to death.

What had driven it all?

It didn’t start with fire. It started with a few hundred college students, carrying placards, chanting slogans that had been chanted before. Ordinary voices, worn thin from years of being ignored. This time, though, no one went home. By this point, the entire nation was exhausted with the state’s failures. Instead of bringing any improvement or dialogue, the government once again chose its old way: to suppress the demonstrators. Tear gas, baton charges, water cannons, and eventually open fire to bring the situation under control.

Instead of breaking the movement, the government’s brutality became the spark that ignited the streets. The protesters’ anger was at its peak. On Tuesday, September 9, in Kathmandu, the Federal Parliament building was set on fire, and soon the fire and chaos spread to Singha Durbar, which holds the prime minister’s office and several important ministers. The protesters did not stop there; the Supreme Court building, the President’s residence, Shital Niwas, and the Prime Minister’s official home in Baluwatar were attacked and engulfed in fire. In a single day, nearly every grand seat of power in the country was burning. Moreover, on September 9, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli resigned from his post.

For nearly a decade, Nepal has been caught in the same vicious cycle. The faces and minds at the top never changed and taking turns as if the helm of the country was their personal inheritance: Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal. People had grown weary. They wanted something different now and leaders who were responsible to their problems, who would treat power not as a family heirloom. Alas, they only saw corruption, despotism, and backroom deals.

Oli carried the heaviest weight of their fury. His name appeared everywhere in banners, in chants, and in media. On the walls of Kathmandu street, some hands have painted in black words the unimaginable: call for his death.

“He killed our youth. He should be dead,” said one. “This is a revolution. This is the end of the corruption. It is our turn now,” said a young Nepali celebrating the downfall of the prime minister. The government was so corrupt. They used that money to improve their own lives, but there has been no change in the lives of normal people of Nepal.”

By Wednesday, September 10, the Administrative core of Kathmandu resembled a war zone. The city is now in a state of  complete lockdown with the soldiers enforcing a strict curfew. However, it is not confirmed what future action the government might take.

If history is a prelude, the past three to four years have witnessed similar unrest in several Asian countries including Sri Lanka in 2021, Bangladesh in 2024, and now in Nepal. It can be observed that the governments have learned nothing from the history by ignoring their people, and trying to supress their voices through violence.  It can be concluded that how neglecting public grievances and repeating past mistakes can lead to such destruction and upheaval. As for Pakistan, the Gen Z here mostly follows trends rather than working in unity. Examining history, most revolutions succeeded due to the collective unity of the youth. In Pakistan, however, the youth are already divided in favor of different political parties. Instead of standing together for the country, they often oppose one party only to support another that later fails, repeating the same cycle.

About the author: