Following the government ban on major social media platforms, youths have announced nationwide street protests against corruption, starting on Monday.
In Kathmandu, the protest, which does not have a clear organiser, will reportedly start at Maitighar Mandala at about 11:00 am. Youngsters across the country have called for similar protests in their localities.
The call for protest has become a trend on the short video platform TikTok, which is among the few platforms that are still operating. The agenda of the protest, however, extends beyond the ban on social media to widespread ‘corruption.’
Nepal’s TikTok-sphere is currently filled with criticism of the lavish lifestyles of political leaders and their children.
A recent incident in Kathmandu has further fueled the rage. Ram Bahadur Magar, the Koshi Province Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, was in a hurry to participate in the statute convention of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) when his car hit a schoolgirl at 7 am on Saturday. The girl, 11-year-old Usha Sunar, was taking a turn to go across a zebra crossing in Harisiddhi, Lalitpur, when the minister’s car hit her and fled the scene.
The girl sustained minor injuries followed by treatment in a local hospital. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli defended the act as a minor and unintended incident, dismissing the criticisms as ‘politicisation.’ However, the public, enraged with the recent social media ban, does not buy PM Oli’s defence. Netizens have called the minister’s ignorance of the incident ‘insensitive’ and ‘a display of unlimited power.’
Following the possibility of a youth uprising, the ruling Nepali Congress is going through an internal struggle on the government decision to ban social media. Numerous influencers and cross-sectoral leaders have endorsed the call for protests. Leaders from opposition parties such as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) have also criticised the government.
Fears persist that these protests, inspired by similar protests in the Phillipines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, may turn out to be violent. Two people died in a pro-monarchy protest on March 28 this year. Following a mass movement in 2006, the country ended monarchy in 2008 in favor of a federal democratic republic. The lack of delivery has fueled public outrage against the system and its leaders in the recent years.
