Nepal has been gripped by explosive events over the past two days. The brave and courageous protests of tens of thousands of young people have shaken the entire state structure. Since this movement is being led by very young activists, it is being called a protest of Gen Z—the generation born between 1995 and 2010 (earlier, movements in Kenya and Bangladesh were also given such names). Despite the government’s announcement to lift the ban on social media—which had triggered the protests in the first place—the demonstrations have not subsided. Instead, they have intensified in Kathmandu and other cities. Brutal state repression has already claimed the lives of at least 19 young protesters. Meanwhile, reports suggest that three police officers and the wife of former Prime Minister and ex-chairman of the ruling Communist Party, Jhala Nath, have also been killed by demonstrators. The number of injured is beyond count.
According to the latest updates, both the parliament and the prime minister’s residence have been set on fire, while social media is flooded with reports and videos showing senior government officials, including ministers and their families, under direct attack. Earlier, three ministers—including the Interior Minister and the Health Minister—had resigned under intense public pressure. Eventually, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli was also forced to step down. Oli claimed he took this step to “pave the way for a constitutional solution.” But in reality, matters have slipped out of the state’s control. The ruthless repression by the so-called ‘communist’ government has only inflamed the movement instead of crushing it. Rumors are also circulating that Sharma Oli, along with his many ministers, has fled the country. The demands of the rebellious youth have gone far beyond lifting the social media ban—they now include decisive action against corruption and nepotism, accountability and transparency, and the complete removal of the current government.
This movement began a week ago when the government imposed a ban on social media platforms. That ban broke the patience of the youth, and the anger and frustration that had been building up for years under conditions of economic misery finally exploded. The government had justified the ban in the name of “regulation,” but it was clearly aimed at silencing dissenting voices and covering up the growing political and economic crises beneath the surface. This shows that the government was well aware of the discontent simmering among the masses. But when tens of thousands of young people took to the streets to register their protest, the guns of the state tore through their bodies. In a single day, 19 innocent lives were taken and hundreds were injured. This marks the highest number of deaths in a single day during any protest in Nepal’s history. Previously, during the 2006 movement against King Gyanendra, 25 people were killed—but that was spread over weeks.
The mass protests, and the brutal manner in which the Oli government crushed them, make it clear that the leadership of Nepal’s ruling Communist Party is neither communist nor connected in any way to the revolutionary ideals of Marxism and Communism. Yet, just as with many other so-called “anti-imperialist” or left-wing governments, reformist left circles worldwide have long sung praises of this Nepali government and fostered illusions among workers. These include not only (though not all) currents linked with Stalinism and Maoism, but also many from the “New Left.” These are the same people who pin hopes on the Russian and Chinese states and, in the name of “anti-imperialism,” go so far as to defend regimes like Maduro in Venezuela, Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and even the Iranian clerics. Not long ago, they were celebrating Sharma Oli’s government as a “revival of the left” in South Asia. Even now, many of them will deny the ground realities and dismiss the current movement as an “imperialist conspiracy,” once again exposing their opportunism and ideological bankruptcy.
The current situation in Nepal once again demonstrates a fundamental truth: any government that comes to power within the confines of capitalism—whether it calls itself communist or socialist—ultimately becomes a custodian and enforcer of the interests of the capitalist class and the state. The same Oli, who once rose to power on the hopes of the Nepali masses and with slogans of anti-imperialism, today serves as an agent of imperialist projects, with his hands drenched in the blood of Nepali workers.
These events show that the emancipation and liberation of the working masses cannot be achieved through reforms within capitalism. In backward and crisis-ridden capitalist systems like those in our regions, the very possibility of meaningful reforms was absent from the outset. In the current phase of capitalism’s historical decay, reformists who rely on its hollow institutions are inevitably forced down the path of neoliberalism. This is why it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish left-wing reformism from the traditional policies of the right, paving the way for the rise of far-right, fascistic tendencies. The erroneous paths of stagism, gradualism and reformism ultimately lead to the same destination: the decline of movements, repression against honest revolutionary elements within them, the protection of imperialist investments, and the use of the state machinery against the working class. In this way, theoretical weaknesses or deviations turn into historical crimes. The mistakes of a moment can impose punishment on entire generations.
The immediate spark for the current movement was the ban on social media—that proverbial last straw which broke the camel’s back. Behind it lay deep-seated anger against corruption, extreme poverty, ever-rising unemployment, and the shameless indulgence of the elite. Today, hundreds of thousands of Nepali youth are forced to seek livelihoods abroad. In the Gulf states, Nepali workers are considered among the most exploited and cheapest. Those who cannot migrate are left to survive only on remittances. This is a stark reflection of a broken capitalist economy and its hollow political structures.
Out of Nepal’s population of roughly 30 million, the vast majority face poverty, hunger, disease, and deprivation. Sharma Oli first came to power in 2015. Yet, even after a decade, the official extreme poverty rate remains stuck at 20 percent, and Nepal is still listed among the world’s most underdeveloped countries by the United Nations. Natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods have further worsened this social devastation. But in truth, the state has no capacity to provide relief to the people. The entire society has become a tinderbox of explosive contradictions.
The most glaring expression of these contradictions is the relentless rise of unemployment. According to government reports, the overall unemployment rate has already crossed 12.6 percent, while among the youth it has soared to 22.7 percent—and is expected to climb even higher by year’s end. These are not just statistics. Each figure represents a ruined life, a shattered hope, and the cry of a young person left with no option but the humiliating path of migration to feed their family.
The last three decades in Nepal have been marked by endless splits, mergers, and new splits within the communist/Maoist parties. From 1996 to 2006, the Maoists waged a civil war against the state. Around 18,000 people were killed, including 8,000 Maoist guerrillas and 4,500 state security personnel. The war ended in 2006 with the “Comprehensive Peace Agreement” (it must be emphasized here that the revolutionary upsurge that broke out in Nepal’s cities that same year played a decisive role in forcing the state into retreat). The agreement essentially rested on the Maoists’ compromise with the state. Under the theory of stages, they believed they had completed the anti-imperialist (primarily against Indian domination) democratic stage of the revolution, thereby opening the door for the abolition of the monarchy and certain democratic reforms.
But the revolutionary masses of Nepal—especially the youth—who sacrificed so much in the hope of a better life free from exploitation and oppression, saw those hopes shattered in the years that followed. Since the formal abolition of the monarchy in 2008, the country has been mired in chronic political crisis. Governments have collapsed, alliances have formed and broken, and prime ministers have come and gone. In these 17 years, Nepal has seen 13 different governments. During this time, people from the pro-India Nepali Congress have also come to power three times, while caretaker administrations have repeatedly been installed. Today, the situation is such that both the government and the opposition are led by communist parties.
Sharma Oli first came to power in 2015. In 2018, he returned with a relatively stable position through the communist alliance. At that time, grand promises of prosperity, employment and development were made. But today’s reality tells an entirely different story. Corruption has worsened, class inequality has deepened, and in the attempt to escape India’s grip, Nepal has been thrown into China’s lap. Indeed, the current government is considered the most pro-China in Nepal’s history, having established extensive political, trade, and economic ties with Beijing. Yet these investments and construction projects have failed to bring any real improvement to the lives of the Nepali people.
It is precisely these conditions that have driven Nepali youth to revolt. We have seen similar uprisings in recent years in Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Bangladesh. These are essentially different links in a global chain of revolts against crisis-ridden capitalism, showing that the conditions of working people worldwide are going from bad to worse. The Nepali movement has once again laid bare the utter bankruptcy of two-stagism and reformism. It has made clear, once more, that superficial reforms, token concessions, and cosmetic changes cannot alter the fate of the exploited masses. The new generation—consciously or unconsciously—is yearning for a revolutionary surgery that can uproot the capitalist system altogether. Their aspirations and demands clearly reflect this burning desire. But these demands require a Marxist program and strategy.
The current situation will inevitably spark fresh theoretical debates among the serious and honest elements within the Maoist movement who still retain revolutionary instincts. For the people who have waged courageous struggles—including armed struggle—for a better life over decades, one truth will now become more evident than ever: without breaking free from capitalism, class, gender and national liberation cannot be achieved. Above all, the most politically active and theoretically aware layers of the working-class youth will draw crucial lessons for the future from both the past and present. The possibility of splits within the existing parties and the emergence of new political tendencies cannot be ruled out.
In today’s conditions—not only in Nepal but across the world—it is the task of those currents that reject the dead weight of gradualism and stagism and place their faith in the program of revolutionary socialism to link the burning aspirations of the masses to the goal of socialist revolution through a transitional program. Only through this path can the working masses break free from the endless humiliation and devastation imposed by imperialist capitalism in South Asia and worldwide.
First published in Asia Marxist Review