The Zumer protests led to the overthrow of the government in Nepal. What you need to know

Mass youth protests in Nepal led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sharma Oli. The protests began due to the ban on social media and discontent with corruption among politicians. At least 22 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces. How the Zoomers staged a revolution in Nepal — in the Izvestia article.

Why did the protests start?

• The whole year 2025 in Nepal is taking place against the background of various protests. Since March, the country has periodically held large rallies in support of the monarchy and the last king Gyanendra, who left the throne in 2008. Sometimes these protests led to mass riots, which resulted in the deaths of at least two people. However, street activity did not lead to a change in the communist government, which has held power with short pauses since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.

• On September 1, a protest rally of private school owners took place in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. They blocked traffic with the help of school buses, protesting against the new law on education, which requires a gradual transition to a non-profit basis. Three days later, there was a new outburst of discontent. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has announced the blocking of social networks that have not been registered, as required by a directive adopted back in 2023.

Instagram Facebook, WhatsApp (owned by Meta, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), YouTube, X (formerly known as Instagram), and almost all foreign and Nepalese social networks and messengers have been banned. Twitter), LinkedIn, Reddit, Signal, Snapchat. Only TikTok and Viber have been blocked. The Government of Nepal explained the blocking by the need to impose responsibility on operators for collecting user data and distributing information.

• At the same time, the Nepo Kid (child of nepotism) trend has become popular in Nepal's social networks, directed against the inequality and privileges of the children of politicians. Young people began to express dissatisfaction with their influence and accuse the country's leadership of corruption. Nepal's social media has been flooded with photos and videos showing the lavish lifestyle of elite children and contrasting it with the hard lives of ordinary people.

How are the protests going?

• Protests against corruption and the ban on social media were called "Generation Z protests", or "zoomer protests" — this is how young people born in 1995-2010 are designated in the Strauss–Howe generation theory. Nepali youth began to create groups and accounts with the name of the generation in the banned social networks and coordinate their actions in them.

• A large rally was scheduled for September 8 in Kathmandu, which eventually gathered tens of thousands of participants. The protesters headed to the parliament building, where they were confronted by security forces. They used tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets against the youth, and in some cases the use of live ammunition was reported.

• At least 22 people were killed and more than 500 injured in the clashes. In one of the hospitals where the wounded were taken, tear gas was reported in the room, which paralyzed the work of the medical facility. Among the dead, two were killed after a curfew imposed by the authorities to restore order in the capital.

• An indefinite curfew was imposed the next day, but the demonstrations continued with renewed vigor. The protesters set fire to the residences of the Prime Minister, the President, some ministers and members of Parliament, as well as the courthouses and the Prosecutor General's Office. They entered the parliament building and continued their protest actions there.

What are the consequences of the protests

• On the evening of September 8, the Nepalese government announced the lifting of the ban on all social networks and platforms. At the same time, Interior Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned amid reports of the first deaths. He declared his moral responsibility for the violence that broke out.

• On September 9, the protests continued, and Nepal's Prime Minister, Sharma Oli, who had held the position intermittently for the past ten years, resigned. The media reported that President Ram Chandra Paudel resigned after him, but this information was denied by his administration. Also on this day, the protesters released about 1.5 thousand prisoners from Nakhku prison, including the leader of the centrist Rastriya Swatantra party, Rabi Lamichkhane, who was convicted of embezzlement of cooperative savings. In addition, they attacked the office of the Prosecutor General and the Kathmandu District Court, took out case files from them and set them on fire.

• The Kathmandu International Airport was closed, and on the morning of September 9, members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Nepal were evacuated from their residences by helicopter. Rioters set fire to the residence of former Prime Minister Khanal. The protesters also set fire to the parliament building, the central office of the ruling party, the Supreme Court building, the office of the president and the government complex.