What factors contributed to Nepal's Gen Z-led protests that brought down a Government?

Fraser Sugden is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham. He has written extensively on shifting class, gender and generational relations in agriculture, and their interaction with contemporary environmental, political and economic stresses.

He has conducted intensive rural fieldwork across South and East Asia, with a focus on Nepal and the Eastern Gangetic Plains and was based in this region for most of the last decade prior to joining the University.

Following the recent protests and political uprising in Nepal earlier this month, Dr Fraser Sugden said:

“After twenty years of dominance, the entire political establishment of Nepal was brought to its knees within just 48 hours following 'Gen Z'-led protests earlier this month, due to longstanding anger at the apparent corruption and impunity amongst the political elite.

"Within the first day of protests, 19 young people were tragically killed following a brutal police crackdown, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister KP Oli. By day two, state buildings, homes of political leaders and businesses were torched during widespread rioting and arson, with the death toll rising to 30.

"With Gen Z being deeply integrated into global news cycles and media channels, thanks to the rise of constant internet and social media access, this has resulted in both the widespread growth of digital communities and increased political awareness on both a domestic and international scale.

"Nepal has undergone rapid political economic change in the past three decades, resulting in changes that have hit the lower-income population groups particularly hard. It's becoming increasingly clear that neoliberal globalisation has failed the rural majority, and growing integration into international markets has brought with it rising inequalities, surging costs, reduced quality of life.

"All of these factors - especially in import dependent countries like Nepal, where two thirds of the population are engaged in agriculture-based work, and 75% live in rural areas - have led to multiple occasions of political insurrection and instability. Therefore, it's imperative any new progressive, youth-led political force doesn't lose sight of the lives of those who form the rural majority, alongside urban and educated population groups, if there is to be long-lasting, positive change in Nepal.”