Unease at slow pace of change in Nepal one month on from gen Z protests

"Prakash Bohora was one of the first of Nepal's gen Z protesters to feel the sting of a police bullet. Like thousands of other young people, he had taken to the streets of the capital last month to protest against corruption and a draconian ban on social media. He had no idea on that day in Kathmandu that the demonstration would escalate into what is now described as Nepal's gen Z revolution,"

"Bohora was outside the parliament building in Kathmandu on the morning of 8 September when he heard the sound of gunfire and felt pain in his left leg. As his friend carried him to the nearby hospital, his bloodied trainer was left behind amid the pandemonium. A photograph of the shoe later went viral, an evocative symbol of the deadliest day of protest in Nepal's history, with 19 protesters killed."

"Sitting in the trauma ward, he expressed frustration at the what he saw as the slow pace of change for Nepal since the gen Z uprising, for which he paid such a heavy price. He was among those calling for the former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and the former home minister Ramesh Lekhak to be arrested for alleged corruption and their role in the shooting of protesters by police on 8 September."

Young people mobilized across Kathmandu to protest corruption and a draconian social media ban, sparking a Gen Z uprising that toppled the government, dissolved parliament and installed anti-corruption interim prime minister Sushila Karki. Police fired on crowds on 8 September, killing 19 protesters and wounding many, including Prakash Bohora, whose bloodied shoe became a viral emblem of the violence. Bohora remains hospitalized with a leg injury and expresses frustration at the slow pace of change. Protesters demand arrests of former PM KP Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak for alleged corruption and roles in the shootings, but many demands remain unmet.

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