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Written by Anthony Kim, 09/30/2025
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal has recently begun to experience extreme levels of internal turmoil, most prominently beginning in early September of 2025. In the past thirty days, unrest has caused youth protests and police retaliation that has killed 72 protestors and injured approximately 2,100; Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s resignation; several government buildings and officials’ homes to be set aflame; and the dissolution of Nepali parliament. Whilst it is evident that the future of Nepal is unclear, one might observe that the situation is far more stable as of now. However, it is nevertheless crucial to be knowledgeable about the current state of the nation, especially considering its significance in the wider context of geopolitics and how such affairs could affect the world in general.
The civil unrest first began when the Nepali government banned a handful of social media platforms, namely X, Facebook, Youtube, etc., on September 4 (Pradhan, 2025). This was due to the fact that such softwares failed to “register” with the Nepali government. However, these prohibitions were only the spark that lit the flame; the root issue that Nepali citizens were frustrated about was continual corruption within the government. Although it was apparent that some individuals were largely dissatisfied with the new policy, most of those involved in the protests seemed to be demonstrating against government corruption, rather than for the purposes of simply removing the policy (The Kathmandu Post, 2025). These protests were not simply in a single region or province of Nepal, but were nationwide and ubiquitous.
The uprisings are known as Gen-Z protests since approximately 56% of the population is under 30 years of age, and such demographics are evident in that a vast majority of the protesters were particularly young, thereby forming a Gen-Z majority(Pradhan, 2025). This also enhanced the weight of the social media ban, since social media use is especially prevalent among youth for both recreational and financial purposes.
In response to these protests, police used live ammunition, tear gas, and rubber bullets against those involved. Combined with the burning of several government buildings, homes, and shopping malls, the total death count from the turmoil amounts to 72 deaths as of now, with over 2,000 injured (Sharma, 2025).
On Monday, September 8, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Oli resigned office in light of the protests (HT News Desk, 2025). However, after Sushila Karki(previously the Supreme Court Chief Justice) came into power as temporary prime minister on Friday, September 12, the protests ceased (Pradhan, 2025). As such, Karki has effectively become the first female leader of Nepal (Sharma, 2025).
President Ram Chandra Poudel dissolved the Nepali parliament–follwing the new Prime Ministers’ discretion–on September 12, the same day Karki came into power (Dahal and Lukiv, 2025). Not only was the dissolution of parliament recommended by Prime Minister Karki, but it was also heavily demanded by the protestors, meaning that keeping the Nepali parliament would prove to be a fiasco.
Although the crisis in Nepal has subsided for now, it could arise once more at any point in time, meaning that one should nonetheless observe the occurring events. Furthermore, despite the fact that one may assume that Nepal is irrelevant in global affairs, the region still houses 29.65 million individuals, all of whom are experiencing political instability.
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