Can Gen Z shape a new Nepal?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 14 October 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At the beginning of September 2025, within 48 hours, Nepal’s government had been toppled, and more than 70 people had been killed, with many more injured. The trigger for all of this had been a government ban on 26 social media platforms, but the primary reasons ran much deeper. Nepal became a republic in 2008, following a decade long civil war, but since then, the promised stability and prosperity have failed to materialise. The country has been subjected to short term coalition governments, resembling a game of musical chairs between certain political parties. And it was Nepal’s Gen Z, who decided to make their frustrations over the lack of opportunities, the social inequality and the existing political system known, with their digitally driven anti-corruption protests. In the aftermath, the protestors gave their approval to a new interim prime minister and demanded new elections, set for March next year.
Asia is increasingly witnessing a mood for change amongst its young people, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka and last year’s student-led revolution in Bangladesh. But very few protests of this nature have translated into fundamental social change. And it remains to be seen if the decision by Nepal’s Gen Z, to place their trust in 73-year-old Sushila Karki as the new Interim Prime Minister, reflects their own political maturity. So, on this week’s Inquiry we’re asking, ‘Can Gen Z shape a new Nepal?’
Contributors: Prof Jeevan Sharma, Chair of South Asia and International Development, University of Edinburgh, UK Pranaya Rana, Journalist and Writer, Kalam Weekly, Kathmandu, Nepal Prof Sreeradha Datta, International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University, Haryana, India Dr Rumela Sen, Lecturer and Faculty Director, Master’s in International Affairs programme, Columbia University, USA
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Maeve Schaffer Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley Technical Producer: James Bradshaw Editor: Tom Bigwood
(Photo: Anti government protest in Kathmandu. Credit: Sunil Pradhan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to the inquiry from the BBC World Service. I'm Charmaine Cozier. Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:16.9 | September the 8th, 2025, Nepal. Thousands of teenagers and young adults meet up in the capital |
| 0:24.2 | Kathmandu, known as Gen Z. They're there to demonstrate. Some are in school uniforms. There's a festival |
| 0:31.2 | vibe with singing and dancing. They chant, make speeches and wave signs. One reads, youths against corruption. |
| 0:40.6 | Another, directed at the government, says, |
| 0:43.3 | We gave you power, you gave us pain. |
| 0:46.9 | Then events turn violent and deadly. |
| 0:50.2 | After two days of the worst political violence |
| 0:52.7 | the South Asian country has seen in years, |
| 0:55.5 | dozens of people are dead and many more injured. |
| 0:59.1 | Government buildings, homes and businesses are burned. |
| 1:02.5 | The Prime Minister resigns and the government collapses. |
| 1:06.9 | So this week we're asking, can Gen Z shape a new Nepal? |
| 1:17.0 | Part 1. Musical Chairs. |
| 1:26.0 | So basically, there are three prime ministers that we've seen repeatedly leading the governments. My name is Jivan Serma. I'm a professor of South Asia and |
| 1:31.8 | international development at the University of Edinburgh. Currently I'm in Kathmandu, Nepal for my research. |
| 1:40.5 | Nepal used to be a Hindu state closed off to the world. Its monarchy was established in 1768. |
| 1:47.0 | A 10-year civil war with Maoist rebels fighting to replace the Monarchy River Republic ended in 2006 with a peace deal and the Maoist entering mainstream politics. |
| 1:58.0 | There were also pro-democracy protests against direct rule. |
| 2:03.7 | Two years later, in 2008, a group of representatives elected to draft a new constitution |
| 2:09.6 | voted to abolish the centuries-old monarchy. |
... |
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