In September 2025, a sudden, spontaneous, and shocking generational uprising occurred in Nepal. The Government of Nepal, spearheading its political society, wanted to regulate foreign social media and electronic internet service sectors for a long time they were in service, collect revenue and taxes from this sector, and maintain information integrity and good demeanour in the communication domain regarding civil society and political opinion. Taking action against political commentary, including inflammatory defamation, satire, and hurtful, inappropriate, and illegal audio-visual and non-commercial activities, these requests to international services responded with the desiderata of a valid democratic constitution, as stated in the byline title of the media news. In fact, the laws and regulations in Nepal need to be reformed to ensure internet activities in compliance, and the language and communication of journalism seem to me to be juvenile. In addition, journalism is currently inciting discrimination and violence through false information, rumours and malicious news, and in order to maintain the social harmony and tolerance provided by the constitution, in a situation where Nepali society is similar to the reality of contemporary America and Europe. The promotion of democracy is now a borderless consensus in political society across the free world. In a world where civil society must be on the frontline to defend its principles, contemporary political society is raising similar voices, concerns and interests in the free and open world.
The first reason for the movement of the Gen Z was the government’s blocking of access to social media. Additional agenda were corruption as a serious and crucial problem in the state organs and the callousness of the law enforcement agencies that were indifferent to anticorruption and its punitive measures. The country and the world witnessed the distorted form of the peaceful movement of the youth against the then ruling KP Sharma Oli’s coalition government. While conducting the normal public and foreign affairs situation, it is becoming clear that the rule of Nepal’s Chief Executive and its coalition government for the past ten years has been taking some directions in an incomparable and unprecedented manner in history since 1950. I had also mentioned for the first time in my public sector newspaper agency outlet Gorkhapatra on the opinion editorial page that the government that functions and operates only under the coverage of general media and events is no longer attractive and tangible or result oriented. The problem of unemployment, constant depression in the daily news, lack of quality in teaching and learning and the overall educational and moral decline, the exuberance and irresponsibility of infantile politics and oppositional political culture and old administration seen in the democracy in the aftermath of the 1990s can be considered as the pent-up agitational factors that led to this youth uprising.
Experiencing the ups and downs in a real political reform with some sense of change in political consciousness is not an unusual activity in the post-Cold War world. Historians have said that the turning point of the third millennium is a memorable and repeated period of history. Nepal and Nepalese have survived a moment of unlimited and unnatural crises in the current politics, going through a lot of hardships, despair and depression to fulfil the promise of the people being fully sovereign, the essential need and creed of 125 years of political struggle in Nepal. The transition period in Nepal’s political system in 2015, after the promulgation of the Seventh Constitution, has seen one or the other politically unstable experience, setbacks and difficulties in the smooth functioning of governance. The political equation of the prolonged political transition period, whether inter-party or intra-party, does not seem to end. It is clear that the distorted violent upheaval and riots in this youth movement have suddenly paused the democratic trajectory. I was apprehensive about such a situation, and I predicted this phenomenon in a newsroom meeting around 2022. I drew attention to the events that took place in domestic politics, drawing lessons from the arbitrary intervention in democracy in Nepal in the 1960s, the putsch against the democratically elected government of the then BP Koirala premiership of the Nepali Congress, the subsequent internal political uprisings and other political violence and opposition movements in neighbouring countries and around the world. While working on the international desk, I was one of the thinkers who drew attention to the growing disillusionment with democracy in the Sahel region and the Sahara Desert of Africa, creating news about military coups in countries undergoing democratic exercises, and to the growing awareness of this.
Despite this, some time ago, when my friend editor-in-chief of the newsroom urged the Nepali Army to take a stand against the unjustified incitement and loss of property and lives in the peaceful call of nationalists and monarchists, the Nepali Army’s stance on the Seventh Constitution that could lead to a natural political regression the apex defence force assured that it accepts and defends the change and constitution. The Nepali Army, along with the bureaucracy and administration, is a permanent institution that protects the national integrity system. The other three security agencies, the National Investigation Department, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force, appeared to have failed to peacefully confront the youth rebellion in order to maintain public security and peace. A multifaceted security strategic action plan was necessary to manage and control the riots. Such a lesson seems to be that this incident should continue to prepare counter-riots, training and movement suppression techniques to control and quell the violence in the coming days, while being aware of the minimal loss of property and people, keeping in mind human rights and human security. Instead of promoting peaceful movement, resistance and Satyagraha or the dissemination of facts from the power centre, the generation remains untouched to the short route to violence. It is a lesson to all citizens, opposition and agitators on how to make the best methods, means and style of struggle in a democracy, civilised, cultured and socially friendly by remembering the ugliness of past violent clashes and movements. The commitment to make the current and future political journey golden requires a strong or vibrant democracy, a proactive, vigilant civil society and a responsible, accountable and transparent integrity laden political and oppositional society.
From 1990 to 2006, the end of the extreme leftist conflict in Nepal ended through the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, when the constitutional monarchy intervened in the activities of democratic government for twice; the political society was united in the installation of the inevitability of a republic. In the wake of the Maoist insurgency that challenged the rule and government after 1990, good governance and people-oriented expectations were elusive and criticised much. Well, the liberal values that emerged in the 1980s led to the restoration of democracy in 1990, and the accusation that politics was unstable, uncertain, and not inclusive was uneasy to refute. After the restoration of democracy, the tyranny of the right or the left was not tolerated, let alone in the latter half of the opposition to the independent system. Such political thinking and ideas are never acceptable to freedom-loving and peace-loving citizens. I was surprised to find in my recent re-study that the CPN-Maoist has fully taken up the agenda of the same party that ignored the speeches and rhetoric of Bishweshwor Prasad Koirala of the Nepali Congress in the 1950s. Liberal democracy in Nepal had seen the liberal nature and exacting storm since my childhood. Since 1947, many messages and dispatches from Kathmandu about Nepali politics, state and society have certainly telexed to the great powers. There were and are details and information of great importance of geopolitics in the eyes, ears and mouths of the contemporary world powers at that time. A rectangular piece like a brick-shaped country, a yam or a gourd, a tuber, or a bridge, or other such misnomers, Nepal is the spiritual cradle of the Asia Pacific continent and the world, connected between to the Global North and the Global South and betwixt the East and the West. Reckoning geopolitics of emotions and reasons, at the same time, the legitimacy of the state to live, struggle and exist as a rationale and the existential concept of the French words régime de la régime and L’état d’urgence or urgency of regime, I think, it is the popular use and practice of democracy to define peace, politics and principles to govern and governed.
A sad nightmare irony, in Nepal, almost every decade, the political system, in the process of its operation, exposes its weakness, insensitivity, instability, vulnerability and ignorance with another strange and poignant French word, cri de coeur or cry of the heart. Even though every change brings dividends, the general public accuses that some special individuals and groups are being distributed such dividends or authoritative allocation of values who gets what, when and how. I keep remembering the meaning and semantics of this politics very well when my late Indian professor, in his graduation class, quoted the words of the American political scientist Harold D. Lasswell in his citation and rote notes. The search for justice, fairness, discrimination and exclusion by the G-generation has created a spirit of rebellion and agitation. On the other hand, the supporters of civil society are still in search of their safe haven to conduct democratic struggle, democratization and conflict resolution. They have been leading from behind to ensure the safe journey of democracy in Nepal, advocating, deliberating and defending for truth and autonomy in the wider political society for years. The syndrome of poverty, underdevelopment and dependency that has been endured has prevented democracy from flourishing and full blossoming, and the unique standards of liberalism and development in that fragile state of fraternity and society are yet to be realized.
In the dark chapter of modern political history, from the dawn of the Enlightenment era in the 17th and 18th centuries, to the change in the political system in the first quarter of the current 21st century, in the context of Nepal, the seventh constitution has been proclaimed based on the legitimacy of a sovereign, independent and democratic people. In the latest phase of constitutional development in Nepal, a decade of democratic practice, governance, government and governability have been transforming, and the same editor friend, like me, has witnessed and suffered a lot of complaints in daily, private and public affairs. But the real aspiration has gone through a stage of realizing that balanced, legitimate and just criticism is a mirage. I think politics has become a mystery worldwide due to the lack of non-study or self-study of civics. Perceptions and misconceptions mean daily conversations and political chatter, buzz and politicking. Only practitioners and scholars study, understand, know, claim and are action-oriented on the altar of democratic logic and rationality, who explain, analyse and explain the meaning of real politics and democracy.
I have also read that the difficult struggle for democracy has been going on for three millennia. There are public circles that agree and disagree with the conclusion of the contemporary American-Japanese political scientist Francis Fukuyama that we are in the final stage of history in the classical world. The call of the ancients and the rights and duties of a free people are now demanding and aspiring for a new class of life under the burden of democracy. But it is difficult to be serious enough to resolve to fill the gap or to fill the gap in an ideal and reality of luxury times and the global age. The cycle of Aristotle’s constitution from the distorted form of democracy is mobocracy or oligarchy, or gangsterism. Its outcome is towards a monopoly or autocracy, or monocracy. My stance is to return to democracy. This can give auspicious signs to resolve the impeachment, reform and regain the leadership change, to follow and bring about its principles, ideology and standards of good governance. By unnecessarily ignoring the larger issues of politics and by restricting the fourth and fifth organs (the media and the permanent government) and the publication and printing of documents issued by them to only the listening, writing and reading penchant, the quality, competence and capacity of the top leadership and the demands for the refinement of the contribution of the younger generation are not in line and tune of the governmental performance and delivery. It is difficult to replace gerontocracy, or the rule of old and elderly leaders, without a strong belief in development, progress and maturity and principles and ideas in the youth.
In my opinion, this is the mode of serving and providing through the right effort so that we can move forward in political practice and political strategy to maintain strong good governance and reclaim the claims of the ruling class to the party and party system. These are three interrelated policy issues that face liberalism and criticism under the guise of democracy, prosperity and peace and liberalism. The evidence of conflict in Nepal’s history and the sporadic urban and city violence that have emerged in the past have challenged the government to establish accountability, justice and prosperity towards the citizens and the people. The state and society must be active in listening to each other, in being humane and in being able to address grievances, grudges and qualms. I imagine that democracy tolerates contradictions and risks. Peaceful critique, coordination, collaboration, cooperation and coexistence with civil society, political society and international society are necessary as the basis of the governance matrix to enrich our understanding of the surrounding human society, political life world and political ecology.
To promote freedom, justice and truth in society, we must take action every day and create an environment where we feel responsible, accountable and honest. In the context of South Asia, we can adopt non-violent methods, practices and solutions to resolve conflicts, uproar and criticism in domestic politics sustainably. The insistence that it is best to establish a good state and an ideal society with virtue and morality, as envisioned and practiced by pioneers, precursors, predecessors and pathfinders, is not new. Despite the dark chapter and episodes, the aim is to bring about an open society, a firm determination to find embodiment through consolation and reconciliation in order to reconcile the political, economic and social conflict. We are witnessing the old version in new or living in a new version of old. In the new world, the dawn of social and civic activity continues in the best qualities of the old and new version or their hybridity. On the contrary, in the context of the Alpha generation or posterity grooming, an interesting social and emotional activity is in the offing, it is predictable.
Kunwar is a pen worker in politics and international relations.