Nepal’s Gen Z protests escalate as FIR is filed against ousted PM KP Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak (Photo: Pinterest)
As Gen Z registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the former Prime Minister KP Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak accusing them of causing deaths during recent protests in Nepal, a youth group spearheading anti-government demonstrations entered a new phase of ongoing political unrest in Nepal.
The FIR has been confirmed by the District Police and forwarded to the Judicial Investigation Commission headed by Justice Gauri Bahadur Karki for necessary actions.
Protests in Nepal have erupted, primarily led by the youth of the country, as a result of the government's ban on 26 social media platforms on September 4. This was the fallout of the failure of these sites to register themselves as per government regulations aimed at controlling online content although framed by the government as a move to make social media accountable and responsible, many interpreted it as one to muzzle freedom of expression.
The decision was protested vastly by younger Nepalese who organized mass demonstrations against what they described as censorship.
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On September 9, thousands of young Nepalese filled the streets to voice their anger for what the government had done. Protestors made a direct point of government offices, its properties and even some residences of ministers and former ministers.
Riots have quickly turned into violence, damaging burned public and private property, including parliament buildings and luxury hotels. Those events marked a significant milestone in the political landscape of Nepal demonstrating some of the frustrated expressions coming from a younger generation.
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The government of Nepal stepped up its defense for presumably justifying the ban on public opposition towards misuse of social media sites. The authorities argued that many people opened an account using fake identities and spread misinformation, hate speech and cybercrime which pose a threat to social harmony with officials stressed that online regulations as to how the country needs to be peaceful and orderly would lead to a ban which is supposedly a protection to national security.
Government reasoning has not convinced most young people, though it's a wider attempt to muzzle dissent and freedoms in a democracy. What started as protests against restrictions on social media has morphed into a wider movement against systemic corruption, economic inequality and lack of accountability in governance. The protests are labelled the Gen Z movement to symbolize a generation that refuses to accept things as they are and is determined to demand meaningful change in the future of Nepal.
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