Gen Z rebellion in Nepal: Police and protestors violently clashed on Kathmandu streets over corruption, social media ban. One protester has reportedly died afetr being shot in the clashes.
Violent clashes erupted outside the Federal Parliament in Nepal as police fired rubber bullets and aerial shots to control the protests by Gen Z demonstrators over the banning of several social media apps.
The demonstration had begun to oppose government corruption and the recent bans on 26 major social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, WhatsApp, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.
The protestors had refused to back down even as police fired repeated rounds of tear gas and water cannons at them. Police then resorted to aerial firing to clear the crowd. They also later cleared out those who entered the parliament building the Himalayan Times reported.
The Kathmandu District Administration has imposed a curfew in New Baneshwor and the surrounding areas where the protest took place from 12:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Thousands of youth protestors took to the streets to oppose corruption and the bans on social media apps. The protests were initially announced as peaceful, but turned violent after they pushed through and damaged the barricades set up by the police. Some protestors had even entered the parliament building premises in New Baneshwar.
Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli had commented earlier on the planned protests, saying, "I hear of a planned 'Gen Z rebellion.' We are not against platforms or social networks; we are against lawlessness, arrogance, and belittling our country. For a year, we told social networks: register under Nepal’s law, pay taxes, and be accountable. They replied, 'We don’t know your constitution.' Then intellectuals complain: four jobs lost. But are four jobs bigger than national self-respect? For self-respect, maybe four jobs go for four days, but new ones will come. They cannot be operators, managers, and consumers all at once"
Gen Z protestors had alos gathered outside Kathmandu at Biratnagar, Butwal, Chitwan, Pokhara, and other cities.
The Nepal government had banned all major social mediasites on Thrusday for failing to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology within the given deadline. The social media sites were given a deadline of seven days from August 28 to register.
