A month ago, the streets of this country were alive with chants of resistance, but beneath that laid a troubling paradox; the same voices demanding accountability appeared to be no different from the corrupt.
The past month has been nothing short of chaotic, with rally after rally, fire on fire and somehow, our beloved supermarket Bhat bhateni always ends up as collateral damage. The seed that planted this protest was the ongoing hate train faced by the pretentious children of our dishonourable politicians.
Parading Nepali media with designer-bag themed christmas trees, each costing more than it would to build sufficient transportation for schools in Nepal’s rural areas, these kids flaunted without shame – previously praised for their astounding english accents and performative “wokeness”, they were now met with backlash and sheer disgust from the youth of Nepal, which in all honesty is exactly what this country needed.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, a powerful statement posted on instagram stories by Gen Z after the boisterous acts that were committed by our people on Tuesday, September 9. Around 20 people, 8 of which were school students were killed by order given to police the day prior, creating an uproar throughout Nepal.
What was supposed to be a peaceful protest organized by Gen Z had turned into a bloody massacre, mothers who had expected to welcome their sons home with pride were instead confronted with harrowing videos of them being carried by frantic crowds, blood soaking their bags and shoes.
Nonetheless, it seems as if the term “justice” is being thrown around loosely, because that does not appear to be what was gained from the events carried out afterwards. Burning down public property and data centers holding proof of Nepal’s independence in the name of equity rebranded this movement into some sort of cover up held in favor of opportunists.
This was all very distressing in the aftermath of these events, especially to Gen Z. Instagram was filled with the words, “Hami ra uniharu ma k farak?” (“What is the difference between them and us?”), an indication of the sorrow these kids felt, many of whom had never contemplated politics before, and were now in the middle of humanity’s worst sides. What began as a united call for reform gradually slid into a display of hypocrisy, where there was no longer any distinction between oppressor and oppressed.
In the following days, those who only the day before spoke of peace, then appeared on their instagrams to share videos which applauded the destruction. Those who professed compassion had no regard for the hundreds of small businesses being rifled. Those who mourned the death of innocent lives were now placating violence in the name of “change.” The distinction between justice and revenge, and sincerity and selfishness became hardly distinguishable.
The truth is that Nepal’s protests have at all times had a certain strange duality, a search for something pure, which is often attained in a way that is exactly antithetical to the end involved. This hypocrisy is due to not so much to malice as to diffractedness due to the action, whose generation is bend on change, but do not know how to accomplish it without falling into the same corrupt ideas and methods which they profess to hate.
