Violence rocks Nepal sparking major worries

Angry Nepalese youth protested in the national capital of Kathmandu, moving from a landmark towards the parliament house in the morning on Monday. Soon it developed into a clash with the police as a group of motorcycle riders infiltrated the youth protesters. The police opened fire and 19 people were killed and many more injured.

What would have been a regular protest march turned into an ugly scene of violence. The ostensible reason seemed to be the ban that the government had imposed on social media platforms like WhatsApp, WeTalk, Viber, Facebook, Linked-In, TikTok, Instagram, for failing to comply with the demand of the local authorities that the operations should provide a local address, and a person from the network who will respond to complaints.

The deadline expired on September 3, and the services were suspended on Monday. The social media platforms were the only sources of the nearly 7.5 per cent of the population working abroad for keeping in touch with family and friends at home. It seemed that the government has arbitrarily decided to shut off the now ubiquitous social media to keep the hyperactive youngsters from turning to alternate sources of news. But the actual reason was much more mundane. The protests, the shutting down of the social media outlets had happened in such quick succession that it was understood to be a government response to the protests.

There is however genuine anger among the youth with the politicians. Many of the participants said that they had no affiliation with any political party, but they are quite upset with the lax criterion for accountability and morality among the politicians. This may seem too general a complaint because this is the kind of charge that can be made against the political class of any country.

The youngsters were quick to point that they have been inspired by the expression of public against politicians in Sri Lanka and in Bangladesh. In both these countries, the protests resulted in the overthrow of governments in their respective countries. The one issue that has angered the protesters is that the constitution-mandated Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) found after five years of inquiry that the deal involving the purchase of a 2017 Airbus deal by which Nepal Airlines got two wide-bodied jets came at the price of a $10.4 million loss to the exchequer. Top officials were convicted of corruption but there was no follow-up action. Says 27-year-old graduate student Ayush Basyal, incidents of corruption “get regularly talked about in public, in Parliament, but never seem to reach a fair conclusion.”

Ankit Bhandari, 23, another student protester, raised the more general question of how there is no documentation of how the tax collected from the people is spent. Yog Rai Lamichchane, assistant professor at the school of business in Pokhara University, told Al Jazeera, explaining the wider context of the youth protests. He says, “The protests are fuelled by the frustration of youth and their disbelief in authority, as they feel sidelined from decision-making. While the recent ban on social media platforms has added fuel to the unrest, the grievances extend far deeper, rooted in the longstanding neglect and the silencing of youth voice.”

Nepal has been struggling to establish a viable democracy ever since its democratic revolution of 1990. It had gone through a long process of constitution-making even as it was shaken by the mass killing of the royal family in 2000. Ever since Nepal’s political journey has been a rocky one, with too many governments changing hands. But the country has held on to the reins of democracy firmly. Nepal has also to deal with two Asian giants on its borders, China and India.