Gen Z rewrote Nepal’s political landscape, but institutional reform remains elusive

KATHMANDU, Sept 11: The upheaval triggered by the Gen Z movement on September 8–9, 2025, was unprecedented in Nepal’s recent history. On September 8, police opened fire on protesters, killing 21 people and injuring nearly 2,000. The following day, government buildings, private properties, businesses and the homes of political leaders were torched and vandalised as the death toll rose to 77. The then Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife Arzu Rana Deuba were brutally attacked by an enraged crowd as the KP Sharma Oli government collapsed, and Parliament was dissolved, paving the way for former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to head an interim administration.