While resentment against the political class in Nepal had been brewing for a while, the government’s social media ban proved to be the last straw. On September 8, peaceful demonstrations against political misrule and corruption began. They quickly escalated into deadly clashes, leaving scores dead and the country at a critical political crossroads. Sanjeev Satgainya reports on how the popular discontent exploded on the streets.
On the afternoon of September 8, Riddhima Sanba, 23, and her friends scurried to a cafe, some 200 metres from the Parliament building in Kathmandu, when clashes erupted between young protesters and security forces in Nepal. Tear gas filled the cafe, and the police fired gunshots.
“We could hear shouting and screaming and clamour outside,” Sanba recalled, about the first day of Nepal’s youth-led protests against corruption, the lavish lifestyles of political elites, and misgovernance. The Himalayan country abolished the centuries-old monarchy and became a constitutional republic in 2008. Its current Constitution came into effect in 2015.