Recent protests in Nepal and demonstrations are taking place across the country in September 2025, mainly organised by the youth and Generation Z students. The demonstrations are also known as the Nepalese Gen Z protests and began when a ban was imposed on most social media sites nationwide. Nepal’s protest was that when people were outraged by the corruption, the lavish lifestyle, and the perceived waste of state resources by government officials and their families, they protested.
The movement grew to have wider concerns in terms of political responsibility, transparency, and governance. Because of the destruction of political and governmental facilities in the country, as well as the violence against the government personnel, the protests escalated. In response, Nepal’s Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli resigned and left the country on September 9, 2025, along with several other government ministers. Nepal’s Prime Minister resigned due to this Gen Z protest.
History of Gen Z Protest in Nepal
26 social media sites, including Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Signal, and Snapchat, were ordered to shut down by the Nepali government on September 4, 2025, for not registering in accordance with the new regulations set forth by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
The fact that remittances account for 33% of Nepal’s GDP and that exit permits are issued, combined with the country’s 20% youth unemployment rate, means that while these remittances keep households afloat and cover import expenses, they also show that the domestic economy has not undergone a structural shift toward an employment-first model, forcing young people to work online.
Critics claim that a social media trend that exposed nepotism, the disproportionate advantages enjoyed by the offspring and family members of powerful political figures, was the impetus behind the shutdown. The average Nepali earned USD 1,400 annually before the protests, while the ruling class’s families flaunted their affluence on social media. This Nepo Kid movement resulted in much public outrage, particularly among the users of Generation Z. Since the median age of the Nepalese population is 25, a significant part of its population is Gen Z, the age group that engages in the use of social media most frequently.
Government reaction to Nepal’s protest
According to former Justice Minister Gobinda Bandi, the social media ban violates fundamental liberties and the constitution, particularly those guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Nepal’s constitution. The Nepal Hindu Rashtra protest marked a significant development in the country’s recent political history.
While demanding the immediate resignation of the current government, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which currently supports the government, also condemned police actions against protesters and the social media ban.. Balendra Shah, the Kathmandu mayor, posted on Facebook that he could not go to the demonstrations because of the age limit set by the organizers. But he believed it was of the essence to listen to them.
International response to the Nepal protest
Activities along the India-Nepal border were allegedly affected by the unrest in Nepal. Markets had gone silent, according to local reports, which led to worse economic stagnation in nearby areas. Reports increased shortly after the concerns were raised on September 9th, with the Maharashtra State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) spreading the word among Indian citizens to avoid traveling until further notice.
It encouraged both Indian and Nepali citizens in Nepal to stay put and provided emergency helplines. Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and a number of other Indian airlines formally canceled all flights into and out of the TIA early on September 10. Later that day, IndiGo started operating again when TIA was reopened.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson stated:
“The recent loss of life and violence in Nepal is appalling. The UK supports fundamental freedoms and respect for human rights, including the right to protest and peaceful assembly. We urge all sides to end the violence and find a peaceful way forward.”
UN Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy described the situation as “so unlike Nepal” and feared that casualty numbers would rise.
“Lots of my staff here are crying,”
she told UN News in an interview.
“They haven’t seen violence in their lifetime.”
“The Government wanted them to align with the internal laws as well because they have been concerned about misinformation, hate speech, and social harmony, and to ensure oversight and monitoring,”
she said.
“However, the decision was widely criticised as being too broad.”
Ms. Singer voiced deep concern for the safety of civilians and underscored the urgent need to ensure unrestricted medical access to the injured.
“The immediate priority now is the protection of civilians, particularly young people who are at the forefront of the protests,”
she said.
Social media came back online shortly before the interview. The senior humanitarian official said she posted a message on X calling upon all parties to exercise maximum restraint, adhere to basic principles on the use of force and firearms, and ensure that people can safely and peacefully exercise their democratic rights.
“The most important thing now is unrestricted access to medical care as well for those who are injured, if needed,”
she said.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, expressed sorrow over the deaths, urged protesters to refrain from using violence, defended people and property, and urged authorities to respect international human rights law. The High Commissioner of Human Rights at the UN, Volker Türk, had a reaction of being appalled at the growing violence and urged the security forces to be as careful as possible. Additionally, he demanded that the security forces’ actions be looked at, specifically reports of “disproportionate use of force” and protester deaths.
Separately, OHCHR expressed shock over the killing and injury of protestors in Nepal and urged a prompt and transparent investigation. Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani stated:
“We call on the authorities to respect and ensure the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.”
Nepal protests for the monarchy
On February 19, 2025, a public holiday commemorating the Revolution of 1951, a video speech by former King Gyanendra Shah spoke to the overall dissatisfaction with the existing communist government. He informed people that the nation was tired of incessant instability and corruption, and he wanted people to assist him in seeing the nation thrive and improve. Though he never directly requested the restoration of the monarchy, his emphasis on sacrifice and unity could be interpreted by other people as an indication of a possible royal restoration. Pro-monarchy demonstrations and activism have increased after this speech.
The existing federal republic government in Nepal has angered certain people. Thirteen governments have been established in the seventeen years since the monarchy was abolished. Corruption, unstable governance, and a faltering economy remain the nation’s problems.
The popularity of pro-monarchy attitudes has steadily grown in recent years. “The reversal of the country’s secular status and reinstatement of the Hindu state” is something that almost half of the population supports.
To unite the campaign for the restoration of the Hindu monarchy, the monarchists established the Joint People’s Campaign Committee on March 27, 2025. Nabaraj Subedi has been appointed as the committee’s leader. The organization’s main demands are that the government embrace the 1991 constitution or change the current one to recognize Nepal as a unified Hindu nation and establish a constitutional monarchy with a multi-party system of parliamentary democracy. The committee gave the government a week to comply with its requests.
In 2025, there were pro-monarchy demonstrations in Tinkune and around the area, which called to reclaim the previous Kingdom of Nepal. The Pro-monarchy protest in Nepal, which was led by the former King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, took place in the capital of the country, Kathmandu, on March 9, 2025.
Nepal protests cause
- In what has been dubbed the “Nepal protest 2025,” some students demonstrated in their school uniforms, demanding that the government lift the prohibition on websites like Facebook, X, and YouTube from doing business in the nation.
- At least 19 people were killed as authorities opened fire on the protesters in a violent response.
- Concerns over Facebook and WhatsApp access were only one aspect of the rage that led to thousands of people protesting against a curfew a day later.
- The riots were not stopped by the government’s Tuesday reversal of its social media ban.
- As demonstrators breached parliament’s barricades, police used live rounds, rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons. Hundreds were injured.
Attack on the Nepal Prime Minister’s wife
During the Nepal demonstrations of 2025, the wife of Jhala Nath Khanal, Rajyalaxmi Chitrakar, was killed by fire setters who burned her house. She later succumbed to death in a Kathmandu-based hospital following the severe burn injuries. This act of violence was one of the many riots that broke out because people were fed up with corruption and a ban on social media that saw protestors destroy the homes and offices of certain political leaders.
The wife of a former Nepal Prime Minister, Jhala Nath Khana, died on Tuesday in a fire that engulfed her house in the middle of violent anti-government protests in the country after she was burned alive. The disturbances have thrown the Himalayan state into a full-blown crisis, resulting in the burning of senior leaders’ residences and the Nepalese parliament building. Nepal’s Prime Minister’s wife was burnt alive in her house.
The government’s ban on major social media platforms, along with long-standing dissatisfaction about political corruption and the lack of prospects for young people, sparked Monday’s protests, which are being organized by Generation Z.
The bloody retaliation against the families of political elites was also evident in the assault and beating of the wife of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba, and the beatings by the protestors of the unrest. The protesters also burnt the house of the former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the rallies, proving that the violence had reached the places of residence of both the current and former prime ministers. The severity of the social discontent and anger covered by the riots is revealed through such assaults on the families of influential political leaders.
Doctors protest in Nepal
Doctors in Nepal recently went on a protest and stopped medical services as a result of their dissatisfaction with the rulings of Consumer Courts on allegations of medical negligence. The doctors requested the amendments in the Criminal Code and the Consumer Protection Act on the argument that the verdicts were unfair in imposing on the doctors and were against the jurisdiction of the Nepal Medical Council.
Following the reaching of an agreement between the government and the Nepal Medical Association, the protest activities were called off, and it is expected that health services will go back to normal. Recent rulings by the Consumer Court requiring large sums of money in situations involving claimed medical malpractice served as the impetus for the protest.
These were orders to pay out damages to the physicians of Grande City Hospital and Himal Hospital and the physicians involved in these cases to pay damages to the families of the affected patients, in amounts of Rs 5.7 million and Rs 14.5 million, respectively, and to the family of the affected patients at Rs 5.07 million.
In April 2025, the Nepal Teachers’ Federation (NTF) led a major teachers’ protest in Nepal.
It was in opposition to the government-sponsored School Education Bill that threatened the centralized management and employment security. The government reached a nine-point deal with demands on job security, wage increases, and a vow to support the law on April 30, ending the month-long protest that included rallies, shutdowns of schools, and a violent standoff with police. Exam delays and the resignation of the Education Minister were the results of the demonstration, which brought attention to the difficulties of federalism in education.