Kathmandu, September 26

A new discussion concerning past state-sponsored shootings carried out on orders from KP Sharma Oli and Sher Bahadur Deuba during the Madhes movement has emerged in the wake of the Gen Z protest, which wiped out the Oli-led government in just 27 hours but at the expense of 75 martyrs, the majority of whom were under 30.

The youths from Madhes and across the country have started sharing their perspective that the Madhes knew this way earlier than what people in Kathmandu have realised now. The conversation started on Facebook, particularly after a popular Facebook page, KMAG shared the incident during the Madhes movement.

'During the Madhes movement, more than 50 people died from police shootings,' reads the KMAG post. 'At that time Nepal was heavily polarised. Most people were saying, 'What could we do when riot police were trying to kill us? Stones were being pelted upon and Nepal had imposed an unofficial blockade. So, whatever happened in the aftermath of the Madhes movement was justifiable.'

It further states, 'Oli even dismissed the concerns of people, saying nothing would happen with the falling of twofour mangoes. I guess we learnt it the hard way. Had we collectively seen wrong in those police shootings, our institutional memory would have worked accordingly on September 8. I still have those posts here on the page.'

At the end, KMAG asked, 'I wish I could go to those comments and ask, 'Have you changed your mind now?''

In the meantime, numerous people have shared the post and left comments expressing their opinions. 'That was a brutal massacre. Our voices were silenced by bullets, but pain still echoes,' reads Abhishek Chaurasiya's comment.

'I remember as a teenager in Janakpur at the time the pain we had to undergo after the senseless remark of Oli and the mass killing of protesters,' Pratyush Jha shared his experience in the comment. 'There is no doubt the Madhesi are treated as second-class citizens today too in many places in Nepal, but instead of crying about it, they will rise with education and get what they deserve, and the situation is obviously improving.'

'Finally someone spoke about this. Thank you, KMAG,' wrote Roshan Patel in his comment. 'I still remember an instance during the Madhes movement wherein people were even justifying the killing of children and old-age women, labelling them as Indian or non-Nepali.' Sujit Pandit wrote, 'Madhes knew it in 2015; the rest of Nepal learnt it in 2025.'

'The nationalists (Kathmandu) held the police, Oli and Deuba in high regard when the Nepal Police were killing Madhesis in Madhes during the Madhes movement supporting their decision,' Ram Ratan commented.

'Had we issued warnings sooner, this day would not have come, and now, after the deaths of young people in Kathmandu, time has revealed the true nature of these leaders. This will give all the socalled nationalists a clearer perspective.'

'When I say Nepal, I mean Kathmandu, which often seems to know and highlight events only when they happen at its doorstep. Historical events outside the valley are frequently downplayed, and this is even more pronounced when they involve the Madhes region,' reads Sujan Dhungana's comment. 'I have witnessed this countless times. I hope Nepal will come to respect and value the lives of Madhesi people equally.' Anjali Sah commented, 'The 'otherisation' has taken the lives of many!'

'Honestly I might sound a bit harsh, but the number of casualties in two days exceeds 50 days of protests at Madesh. Finally, Madhesi friends can stay in peace knowing that the state is equally repressive and atrocious to Pahadiyas (people from hills), this time even more,' said Birat Joshi in his comment. 'Sadly, Kathmandu took 10 years to understand the pain of Madhes,' said Majid Ansari.

Sajan Poudel wrote, 'See how Kathmandu responds when people from Madhes die asking for their rights. Kathmandu has been the only Nepal for a long time to date.' Analysts and experts have also expressed that what they are talking about is vividly unmasked now.

Speaking with THT, political analyst Binay Mishra said, 'Yes, that's pretty clear.'

He further stated, 'The Gen Z youth who were shot dead were predominantly native speakers of the Nepali language. Non-Nepali speakers have been others in the grand narrative of Nepali nationality. That's why you see the double standard in the common people of Pahade (people from hills) origin, including in the media.'

The recent example is Rabi Lamichhane. He was reelected after relinquishing his US citizenship. But Dr Sangeeta Mishra was trialled by the media just because she was born in India despite having adopted naturalised citizenship after her marriage in Nepal, as per Mishra.

Sangeeta Mishra was recently recommended for the Health Ministry in the interim government led by Prime Minister Sushila Karki and was removed after the debate flared up about her citizenship issue and alleged cases of corruption.

Stating another example, sympathy for the Gorkhaland statehood movement in West Bengal, he argued, 'On what basis does a section of Nepali media have sympathy for them? Only on the grounds of the Nepali language.'

'Nepali nationalism is nothing but something founded just on linguistic and ethnic parochialism,' he claimed. 'It is not even fully anti-India, since Nepali-speaking northeast Indians are regarded as Nepali.'