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Protests over political corruption and an ongoing effort to regulate social media have thrown Nepal in a state of civic concern. Demonstrations mainly led by younger organizers and activists and arose when the Nepal government banned (and then returned) access to popular platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook and Youtube so as not to register their products according to a new national law. At least 19 people were killed and dozens more injured in the midst of protests in the Nepali capital Kathmandu on Monday. More than just a matter of access to apps, the Nepalian protests have become a generational conflict in the region’s future.
“Robust space for debate” faces “censorship”
The government has claimed that it is not “banning social media” without trying to “bring them in line with Npali law”, said BBC. This explanation has not been enough for many Nepalese, who “followed a call from protesters who described themselves as Generation Z” to gather in the parliamentary building in Kathmandu on Monday. There, the authorities used violence including “water cannons, batons and rubbish bullets”, which resulted in today’s double -digit fatal accidents, the network says.
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“At the core” of the protesters’ demands “lies a call to the rule of law, where justice, liability and justice exists over favoriteism and corruption,” said Yog Raj Lamichhane, assistant professor at Nepal’s Pokhara University, to to Al Jazera.
Dissatisfaction with “distrust in authority”
Experts have warned the Nepalian government that Monday’s violent clashes were an “outbreak of accumulated frustrations from young people caused by corruption, poor control, abuse of power and the arrogance of the consecutive governments and political parties,” said Kathmandu post. The protests “are driven by the frustration of young people and their distrust in authority, as they feel on the side of decision -making,” Lamichhane said.
But while the social media ban may have “added fuel to the unrest,” said Lamichhane, the broader complaints “extends much deeper” and is “rooted in prolonged neglect and silence of youth votes” in Nepal. The protests can be fantastic in their size and scale, but the emotions that drive the demonstrations are “far from sudden”, said Hindustan Times. Most recently, the anger manifested in Nepal’s trendy “Nepo Kids” hashtag on social media, which contained “children of politicians photographed enjoy luxury lifestyles – to reveal alleged nepotism and corruption.” Given Nepal’s “lively democracy and active citizen space”, said United Nations Human Rights Speech Rabina Shamma“Dialogue is the best way to deal with young people’s concerns.”
