How Kathmandu burned and politics crumbled

WHAT happened between 11 am on September 8 and 8 pm on September 9 in Kathmandu — and across Nepal — was unthinkable and cataclysmic. The largest peaceful protest by Gen Z against a ban on 26 apps turned predictably violent after the police shot dead 30 youths and wounded over 1,000 persons. The previous 'andolans' included the Kot massacre (1846), the Nepal Army allegedly shooting hundreds of protesters attempting the storming of Narayanhiti Palace during the movement for multiparty democracy, and the peaceful Jan Andolan (2006) for republicanism.

The Gen Z protest is anarchic and probably impromptu, as much as it is leaderless. The banning of apps and shooting of youths aged 13-37 years were the triggers for the September Revolution.

Their main grievances: institutionalised corruption, impunity, nepotism and stagnant politics — three persons KP Oli, SB Deuba and Prachanda playing musical chairs for PM.

Dr Alok Bohara, Professor of economics in New Mexico University, Maj Gen Binoy Basnyat (retd) and Purushottam Poudel of the Kathmandu Post — all three had predicted the Gen Z Andolan. NC senior leader Shekhar Koirala — on a visit to China and stuck in Xian due to Tribhuvan Airport being closed (now open) — told me that he had expected the movement after Diwali.

Look at what happened:

1) All Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) and Nepali Congress (NC) offices in 77 districts were ransacked. Conspicuously, the CPN Maoist, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party and Rashtriya Swatantra Party were spared. 2) Parliament House, Supreme Court and Singha Durbar were torched. 3) private homes of the President, the PM, and most UML and NC leaders were burnt down. 4) The Nepal Police headquarters in Naxal was surrounded, the Hilton Hotel burnt and chaotic violence and vandalism were rampant across Nepal. 5) Five-time PM Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana, who were badly roughed up , escaped by crossing the fenced walls of their residence. 6) The wife of former PM JN Khanal was badly burnt when their house was torched. 7) Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel was kicked around in the streets.

8) Most government ministers who resigned were escorted to safety by the Army. PM Oli resigned; along with other leaders, he is in Army Staff College, Shivpuri. 9) A mob of 50,000 Gen Z youth stormed Nakku jail and secured the release of RSP leader Rabi Lamichchane — his party's 20 MPs had resigned from Parliament.

President Ramchandra Poudel remains the highest symbol of the tattered constitution.

Who are Gen Z and what are their grievances and goals? It is essentially a social media collective of people aged 13 to 37 years and is led by Sudan Gurung. He heads an NGO, Hami Nepal, which is dedicated to providing disaster relief. He lost his son during the 2015 earthquake.

The other leaders whose names have cropped up during the 40-hour uprising are Purshottam Yadav, Binaye Karki, Jasmin Ojha and Miraj Dhungana. Yadav was once a Maoist student leader and his pictures with Prachanda are on the social media. And splinter groups proliferate.

"Grassroots uprising," says Dr Bohara, "does not need a central leadership to ignite" and throw up pent-up frustrations about the incestuous and dysfunctional democratic order that brings back the same leaders. Maj Gen Basnyat calls it a "generational awakening, youth demanding accountability to end corruption."

The youth are demanding economic security and political stability through constitutional change. Gen Z has been infiltrated by criminals and arsonists. Nine lakh Nepalis go abroad for work and education annually; around 2,000 exit the country daily and the 6 million in India reflect the drought in employment.

Gen Z's evolving demands are an interim government; dissolution of the Parliament; and fresh elections.

The Nepal Army's role has been criticised by some people I spoke to in Kathmandu. A senior politician said: "They failed to protect the Supreme Court, Parliament House, Singha Durbar, government secretariat, the President's Sheetal Niwas and other state assets. These historic institutions cost crores of rupees. It seems Gen Z was given a long rope by the army."

A retired general, backed by three generations of soldiering, observed: "This is a national protest movement; no political party is involved. The Army must not intervene but protect all vulnerable areas and points." He added: "The movement seems impromptu, which led to mob mentality that turned anarchic because it was leaderless, though instigators could have infiltrated."

Unfortunately, the Nepal Army came out of the barracks too late. Still, the army chief, Gen Ashok Sigdel — guided by the Supreme Commander, President Ramchandra Paudel, who reportedly asked Oli to resign — has a key role in developing a new governance system to meet the aspirations of Gen Z, which coincide with the aspirations of the people of Nepal.

As thick black smoke covering the Kathmandu skyline begins to fade, hope forms the silver lining. On September 9, General Sigdel met Gen Z leaders for discussions. President Paudel's meeting with them on September 10 did not materialise.

Gen Z's search for 'clean' leaders for an interim government included former rapper and Mayor of Kathmandu Balen Shah and former TV anchor and RSP president Rabi Lamichhane, who have no political ideology. Both have refused. NC's Shekhar Koirala, who had condoled Gen Z for the loss of their colleagues and endorsed their political goals, has political experience and enjoys a clean image.

In Wednesday's long meeting at Jangi Adda, Bhadrakali (army Headquarters), former Chief Justice Sushila Karki won the maximum votes to head the interim government. Uncanny shades of the Aragalaya movement in Sri Lanka and the anti-Hasina revolt in Bangladesh are discernible in the Kathmandu Awakening. Unlike in Sri Lanka, where the political system remains unchanged, and Bangladesh which has seen the revival of Islamic fundamentalism through a regime change, Nepal has the potential for real transformation, but within the republican constitution, towards a genuine New Nepal.

As Gen Z student Munu Shreshta said: "Hopefully our country will change now! What Maoists took 10 years to achieve, Gen Z accomplished in two days."

The army has taken charge of law and order, with General Sigdel taking stewardship of the nation following his national address. But the loss of national assets is a colossal setback. Shekhar Koirala says it has put Nepal 100 years back. It is time to pick up the pieces now.

Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd) is former Founding Member, Defence Planning Staff.