A few weeks prior to early September, a new trend was gaining popularity among the youths of Nepal, namely the "Nepo Kid Trend. In this trend, people collected pictures of Nepalese politicians' children and stitched them with pictures of ordinary Nepalese citizens' children to illustrate the disparity between their lifestyles and financial status. This trend sparked outrage throughout the nation as these "Nepo Kids" started getting exposed for living a luxurious lifestyle relying on their parents' corrupt income, while the youths of Nepal were in outcry for employment opportunities, development, standard education and economic stability.

While the Nepo Kid Campaign was going viral on multiple social media platforms, including Reddit, Instagram, X, etc., the government issued a notice to these social media companies to register in Nepal and open an office here within the next seven days, on August 28, 2025. This step by the government was an initiative that began in 2023 with the introduction of "Directives Relating to the Regulation for the Usage of Social Media, 2023," which required social media platforms to be registered with Nepal's Ministry. This was to Prevent Hate Speech and Prevent Threats to National Security. Then, on 4th September 2025, 26 social media apps (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, X, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Reddit, Discord, Pinterest, Signal, Threads, WeChat, Quora, Tumblr, Clubhouse, Mastodon, Rumble, VK, Line, IMO, Zalo, Soul, and Hamro Patro) were banned in Nepal as they did not register as per the notice, this process had been tried and tested by the government to gain control over social media content, i.e., available to the public in TikTok, so they tried to coerce the same approach in these 26 social media platforms. But this move of the government was interpreted as if they wanted to muffle the voices of the youths by hindering their Freedom of Speech which is very likely to be true, as the timing of the ban perfectly coincided with the "Nepo Kid Trend" that was going viral and they could control the contents on those social media as they would have the power to monitor and censor the posts that could harm the integrity of their public image.

Addressing this issue, Gen Z decided to conduct a peaceful protest on 8th September 2025 throughout Nepal, which was moderated by Hami Nepal Organization, coordinating through Discord groups and TikTok posts. The protest in the capital city, Kathmandu, was deemed to be in Maitighar on said date at approximately 9 AM. Though this was a peaceful initiative to address the issue, it had its own risks of external infiltration, such as opposition political parties or monarchist intervention to create riots and cause destruction, as it was impossible to distinguish people affiliated with such groups from the independent protesters. Even the former Prime Minister Khadga Prashad Sharma Oli claimed that such a protest is a normal event in our country, where a few thousand people voice their concerns and it's not a serious issue. However, the crowd of protesters was unprecedented during this protest as tens of thousands of Gen Zs had come on the ground to voice their concerns about the corrupt government, unemployment of youths in the nation forcing them to seek employment in Middle Eastern countries as labor force, lack of quality education, economic instability of the nation and denying them Freedom of Speech.

Thus began the peaceful protest conducted by the Gen Zs throughout the nation. The students came on the ground wearing school uniforms to prevent the police from showcasing brutality on the protesters as it is explicitly stated in international law (ICCPR, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Geneva Convention IV, UN Committee of the Rights of the Child-General Comments) and the Constitution of Nepal (2015) that children should not be subject to violence of any nature by state authorities or any other party even during war and the government must protect children from such incidents if ever occurred. The protest began smoothly by expressing their issues in creative ways, like singing, rapping, sarcasm, playing games, etc. The protesters then marched towards the Parliament to voice their concerns and started sloganeering in front of its gate.

However, the government realized that the crowd was beyond imagination in the protest grounds and it was difficult to control them, so they deployed the armed police before the gates of the Parliament. Simultaneously, certain people with personal or political agendas infiltrated the crowd and began charging towards the Parliament gates. After these infiltrators began infiltrating the Parliament, the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu District issued a shooting order to kill the protesters. Then, that afternoon, the Armed Police Force (APF) began using excessive force on the protesters who were in the age group 13-28. They threw tear gas, water cannons, beat them with batons and shot them with rubber bullets and live ammunition. Not only that, all the people who were shot had been shot either on their head or chest, not below the knee, which was against the law of Nepal, i.e., The Law on Police Use of Force and Local Administration Act (1971). This incident caused the death of at least 19 protesters and more than 400 protesters were injured. The outcome of this protest caused nationwide outrage among all the citizens of Nepal, as minors and students in school uniform were shot dead by the Nepal Police with live ammunition.

Consequently, on 9th September 2025, Gen Z again appeared on the ground for protest regardless of the imposition of curfew, enraged by the previous day's incident. Even the influential figures of Nepal, Rt. Ex-Chief Justice Sushila Karki, Mayor of Kathmandu Balendra Shah and others supported this movement of Gen Z. Then, the protesters proceeded to surround the houses of the corrupt ministers and attacked them alongside the police officers, simultaneously setting their houses and police stations on fire. While these attacks were going on in different parts of Nepal, the Prime Minister Oli along with other Ministers, began resigning from their post and fled their residence to go underground. During this chaos, the infiltrators with different agendas than the protest began to act according to their ulterior motives, took advantage of the chaos and set fire in the most important sectors of the nation, such as the Parliament, Singha Durbar, Supreme Court, Attorney General's Office, Kathmandu, Kaski and Rupandehi District Courts, etc. It didn't stop there; these infiltrators began looting the supermarkets (Bhat Bahtini) and set fire to the Showrooms and Marts. After this, the Army took total control of the nation and imposed curfew to restrain people from causing further damage.

By the end of 9th September, it seemed the country was in ruins as 51 citizens were dead and more than 1,300 citizens were injured during the 2-day protest. Buildings of the 3 major

branches of the government, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, were destroyed by arson. The Gen Z movement had won the battle but lost the war. Yet, the youth of Nepal did not lose hope and tracked down the looted goods as much as they could and returned them to their respective places to reduce the net negative impact.

On 10th September 2025, the youths again came on the streets regardless of curfew to restore the records that could be retrieved from the Singha Durbar and the Supreme Court, rebuild the nation by cleaning the roads on which arson took place during the protest and repainted the roads and their sidewalks. Simultaneously, an online voting for selecting the Interim Prime Minister was held in the Discord group "Youth Against Corruption", in which Ex-Chief Justice Sushila Karki got the majority of votes. This day onward, a rigorous discussion session was conducted between Ashok Raj Sigdel (the Army Chief), Sudan Gurung (Founder of Hami Nepal), Ram Chandra Poudel (The President) and Sushila Karki (Ex-Chief Justice) to dissolve the Parliament and appoint Sushila Karki as the Interim Prime Minister. This discussion lasted until the evening of 12th September 2025; finally, the Parliament was dissolved and Sushila Karki was appointed as the First-Lady Prime Minister of Nepal for the interim period and officially took the oath, taking on the role at 9 PM, which was a historical event for Nepal.

Though the appointment of the Interim Prime Minister has been officialized, there are a few legal issues that tag along with it. Firstly, PM Karki's appointment is unconstitutional, as the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, clearly states that a non-member of the parliament and an ex-Chief Justice is not eligible to hold the post of the Prime Minister of the nation, due to which the Interim Government led by her can be challenged in the court of law. For this, she have to prepare a solid defense as the situation in which she was appointed as the PM was to protect the constitution of the nation itself, because if the President refused to appoint her the post the protest of Gen Z would grow to be much more violent which would lead the army to take full control over the country due to power vacuum as many ministers including the PM Oli resigned from their post, resulting in constitutional vacuum. This Interim Government also has limited power, as it cannot amend the constitution or formulate new laws, but only pass ordinances and form a unit to investigate corruption under the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Due to these limitations, the Interim Government can't meet all of the youth's needs. However, it can help to build the foundation for a transparent government that will help the next government meet the youth's requirements while ensuring that it is the backbone for Rising Nepal.

Similar demonstrations have already occurred in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The country's economic difficulties and lack of basic necessities catalyzed the March 2022 youth-led protest in Sri Lanka. Thousands of protestors were arrested and at least 9 people were killed when authorities used disproportionate force on the demonstrators during the protest. Simultaneously, property damage occurred in the process of retaliation as mobs supporting Rajapaksa had attacked the protesters. In the end, the Rajapaksa brothers' cabinet resigned altogether, while Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the Interim President and formed the interim government. The interim government of Sri Lanka secured IMF agreements to stabilize the economy post-protest and focused on arrangements before elections. Even then, the effort lacked strong results as the economic crisis worsened due to IMF surcharges and debt issues in the nation, alongside challenges of unemployment and inflation also persisted, requiring long-term reforms.

In Bangladesh, the student-led protest in 2024 was a consequence of the reinstatement of the Quota system, which reserved 30% of government jobs for the children of war veterans, rather than promoting merit-based employment in government sectors. This increased the unemployment rate of youths and led to an economic crisis in 2024. The youths demanded that the government be accountable for its actions and ensure reforms in policy. This protest also resulted in huge casualties due to violent clashes between protesters and the excessive force of authorities, with about 1,400 deaths and damage to government buildings. Finally, then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also resigned and Mohammad Yunus, the economist, was appointed as the Interim Prime Minister to lead the Interim Government of the State. The government, led by him, focused on restoring order by addressing economic issues, preparing for institutional reforms, like the government job quota, which was revised to ensure meritocracy. This government also introduced anti-corruption measures to build trust among the public and they prepared for the democratic election. Even though they managed to ease regional tension through diplomatic engagements, the major issue of economic recovery could not be resolved by them due to global inflation and trade issues, consequently forcing them to seek foreign aid to stabilize the economy.

Nepal should be inspired by these two countries and learn from their failures to ensure transparent governance and avoid crises in the country. First and foremost, Nepal must avoid relying on international debt and foreign aid, unless it is extremely necessary, as it already has an outstanding debt of NPR 26.67 trillion, amounting to 46.7% of the GDP of Nepal as of mid-March 2025. Avoiding debt is a key action to prevent the economic crisis from worsening further due to global inflation, potential surcharges and trade issues resulting from sanctions. This interim government must also formulate a Mutual Legal Assistance and Asset Recovery Unit under the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) that should investigate the alleged corrupt politicians, officials and their family members to identify assets they possess without legitimate evidence of source. This commission should also collaborate with other countries where the assets are hidden to negotiate return conditions with the foreign governments and use the UN Convention Against Corruption Chapter V (Asset Recovery) as a legal tool for freezing, confiscating and repatriating those assets. Then, all the seized assets should be deposited in the treasury of Nepal with clear and proper records. The assets that may be returned in Nepal through this process can help in stabilizing its economy and solving the unemployment issue of the youths in the short term by creating employment opportunities like issuing start-up grants, providing skills training programs (vocational and technical), issuing subsidies for MSMEs, creating agricultural-rural job opportunities and creating digital freelancing initiatives. Additionally, they should formulate a commission for judicial investigation and recommendation of punishment regarding the massacre on 8th September 2025, during the protest. Finally, the Interim Government must prepare for the next term election, which is set to be on 5th March 2026. Even though the youths have demanded to elect the Prime Minister directly in this election but it is not possible as the Interim Government cannot amend the constitution, so this election will be held in the proportional representation (PR) system as before, but after the new parliament is elected, the constitution can be amended to directly elect the House of Representatives and the Prime Minister with 2/3rd majority of the Parliament.

However, under the leadership of Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki, the nation's youths believe that Nepal can overcome the 2025 crisis by enforcing anti-corruption measures and promoting transparent governance, leveraging her judicial background to rebuild public trust. With the unwavering support of the youth and her efforts to introduce actionable reforms in the nation, Nepal can be "Rebuilt from Revolt".

Shrestha is a 5th-year student at Kathmandu University School of Law (praptishr2002@gmail.com)