Nepal unrest — organic or ...?

September 9 eventually turned out to be Nepal's August 5 moment. If it needs to be elaborated, it was on August 5, 2024 when Bangladeshi Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina Wajed had to bow to public agitation and flee the country, to India. On September 9, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli suffered the same fate — short of fleeing the country though. Anti-corruption demonstrators defied an indefinite curfew imposed by the government and clashed with police in capital Kathmandu and other places, a day after 19 people died in violent protests triggered by a social media ban. Though the government had lifted the ban, the protesters were unrelenting.

The events in Nepal exemplify how quickly social media restrictions can escalate into violence and even bigger — as young activists perceived the ban on some 26 platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and X as an attempt to silence criticism of corruption by elected representatives, particularly a viral anti-neoptism campaign targeting the government.

However, this successful 'Generation Z Movement' — as its members have themselves called it — is unlikely not have foreign backing, given its speedy culmination into the PM's dismissal. There is no dearth of political observers who insist that India conspired to create unrest in Nepal by exploiting young Nepalese, and that the Indian godi media fully highlighted the protest movement under a set agenda. India's history of interfering in the Himalayan state is well-known. In 2019, New Delhi issued new maps showing Nepalese territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura inside India.

India's hegemonic designs in the region are no secret. New Delhi's backing of Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime in Bangladesh, its support to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, and the 'India Out' campaign in the Maldives, not to mention its patronage to terrorists in Pakistan's Balochistan and K-P, are clear cases in point. And now, the change in Nepal is another undisputed evidence of India's Hindutva-driven hegemonic pursuits in the region.