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President’s Office in flames<\/p>\n
KATHMANDU: On Tuesday, Nepal\u2019s streets became the stage for an extraordinary upheaval\u2014nearly cinematic in its intensity and devastating in its implications.<\/p>\n
Simultaneously, Singha Durbar, the Supreme Court, Parliament, and even the President\u2019s Office went up in flames. These were not symbolic acts but visceral testaments to a generation\u2019s frustration with institutions that failed them for so long.<\/p>\n
Flames lit the sky over Nepal\u2019s power centers, and with the smoke came a clear signal: the old order was burning, and must be rebuilt from its embers.<\/p>\n
This uprising, led by Gen Z, began as a stand against a draconian social media ban, targeting platforms like Facebook, X, and YouTube. But it quickly evolved into a rebellion against decades of corruption, stagnation, and elite privilege.<\/p>\n
Youth unemployment had hovered around 22%, half the population lived in poverty, and a sense of exclusion had metastasized. The digital shutdown wasn\u2019t merely censorship\u2014it was the spark in a tinderbox of suppressed rage. (reuters.com,\u00a0politico.com, economictimes.com).<\/p>\n
What we saw next was a catastrophe: smoke billowed from halls of power; fire trucks stood idle and overwhelmed; archives\u2014temporal anchors to national memory\u2014went up in flames.<\/p>\n
Authorities admitted on Tuesday that without full mobilization, it might take days to stem the flames. Meanwhile, arsonists extended their assault to media houses, police stations, and even homes of influential political families.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli\u2019s resignation came in the afternoon\u2014an admission of defeat by a \u201cpolitical survivor\u201d who had once seemed unshakeable. In a brief letter invoking Article 77 of the constitution, Oli bowed to public will, signaling that the moral foundation of his rule had eroded. The moment underscores how protests, sparked by digital repression, can culminate in a revolution that topples a government.<\/p>\n
Yet resignation alone won\u2019t reignite national hope. President Ram Chandra Paudel has called for dialogue, stitching urgency with civility. But the call lands on a landscape scorched by fear and disillusionment. Nepalese youth want structures rebuilt, not political recycling.<\/p>\n
The Nepali Army\u2019s appeal to protect cultural heritage while extending a hand to calm is commendable, but a society that watches its Supreme Court burn won\u2019t be soothed by rhetoric alone.<\/p>\n
This protest\u2019s scale is unprecedented. In a nation where protests already numbered nearly 4,000 over ten months, the normalization of dissent has bred a volatile citizenry conditioned to escalation. But this is different. It\u2019s not just rage\u2014it\u2019s a structure-shaking revolution that burned icons of state power.<\/p>\n
At the movement\u2019s heart lies a new energy: social media-savvy, leaderless, insurgent, and digital-first. Slogans like #NepoBabies and videos exposing elite lifestyles went viral. The protest was decentralized, fueled by solidarity, not party lines or ideology.<\/p>\n
Even former King Gyanendra urged peace, calling for the movement to remain peaceful and authentic, a rare moment of royal moderation in a crisis of republican legitimacy.<\/p>\n
As protests turned destructive, the need for justice, accountability, and democratic reinvention became apparent. Police killed at least 19 protesters, shocking the nation into moral reckoning. Three officers were later killed after surrendering\u2014evidence of total institutional breakdown, as was the mass jail escape in Jaleshwar amid chaos.<\/p>\n
Adding to this turmoil, protests spread into rural outposts, social movements grew beyond Kathmandu, and protests intersected with broader societal currents\u2014from anti-Israel rallies to teacher strikes. Nepal\u2019s protest culture had been simmering; now it is volcanic.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, as buildings burned, the real battle became clear\u2014between a future enslaved by nepotism and one drawn by democratic renewal. Balendra\u00a0(Balen)\u00a0Shah, Kathmandu\u2019s young mayor, became a fleeting symbol of hope. Protesters carried the anime flag of One Piece\u2019s Straw Hat Pirates\u2014a banner for freedom, not just chaos.<\/p>\n
Now Nepal teeters: will it rebuild institutions that ignore its youth, or will it refashion the state into something inclusive and forward-looking? Dialogue must go beyond convening. It must root in constitutional reform, youth inclusion, anti-corruption action, and rejuvenated civil liberties.<\/p>\n
Nepalis deserve stability, but not stability of suppression. Rebuilding isn\u2019t slowing down protests\u2014it\u2019s giving them purpose. If future generations can say their voice mattered, then perhaps this uprising will yield not a burnt state, but a reborn republic.<\/p>\n
Nepal\u2019s September inferno: The day Kathmandu burned<\/p>\n
This piece originally appeared in the DAWN. It is being republished with permission from the DAWN with updates.<\/em><\/p>\n KATHMANDU, Nepal\u2013The week of September 8, 2025, was just another week for RC Gautam, an errand boy at Kantipur Television. In two decades of employment at the station, he had seen street protests, dire political situations, a civil war, shootouts, violence and even an attack on the channel\u2019s headquarters. But September 9 panned out differently for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t even begin to tell you how many people stormed our station. It all happened so quickly,\u201d he told me over the phone.<\/p>\n An irate mob rushed into the Kantipur TV building on Tuesday, set fire to three buildings on its premises, and torched two dozen bikes and more than a dozen cars. The station was just one of hundreds of buildings and homes that came under attack in the wake of what is being dubbed the \u201cGen Z protests\u201d in Nepal, which quickly spiraled out of control September 8.<\/p>\n Triggered by a recent social media ban, demonstrators took to the streets against corruption and nepotism. Every day, about 2,000 Nepalis leave for the Gulf, Malaysia and other countries for work, and while the country runs on a remittance economy, the children of leaders and politicians lead lavish lifestyles \u2014 something Gen Z has criticized on social media.<\/p>\n When the protesters first gathered Monday, they expected peace. There was music and dancing, and some local celebrities showed up to support the movement. But things quickly spun out of control when older men in the crowd targeted Parliament. Thus began the rioting.<\/p>\n The Kathmandu chief district officer ordered security forces to open fire, which killed 22 protesters. Some were in school uniforms. By September 12, the death toll had risen to 51. More than 1,000 people injured in the protests were being treated in hospitals, though officials admitted those figures were conservative estimates. Many remain missing and unaccounted for in similar events in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n On September 9, violence escalated as arsonists showed up on the streets, vandalizing and torching private homes of ministers and businesses linked to those in power. Entire ministerial quarters, government buildings, police stations, the Supreme Court and Singha Durbar, the main administrative block, were among those set on fire.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Kathmandu burned and smelled of rage. The air was so thick, it was choking.<\/p>\n When smoke filled the air in Budanilkantha, north of the capital, where I live, and army choppers circled above me, my instinct as a former reporter was to step out. The home of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, former Minister Arju Deuba, had been attacked. I watched a plume of smoke rise from their residence and drift toward Shivapur hill. Choppers made several rounds trying to airlift the couple, who had been manhandled by the mob, but failed. Gunshots were heard. Neighbors said two men had died, though their deaths were not verified. The Deubas, injured, were eventually evacuated through the back door.<\/p>\n Across the street from my home, smoke fogged houses \u2014 the air stank. When I arrived, the arsonists had just left. The public had open access to the blazing home of former President Bidhya Bhandari. Outside, a crowd lingered and chatted.<\/p>\n What I overheard:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you take?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t really get my hands on anything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere were 240,000 Nepalese rupees, and some USD. Some people took it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone took a mattress.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI only took a cake.\u201d<\/p>\n On my evening walks past Bhandari\u2019s home, I would often scan the residence, and guards stood armed at security posts. On Tuesday, as the house burned and residents evacuated, the guards remained outside the gate. \u201cThis is our duty,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n The scene at Bhandari\u2019s home repeated across Kathmandu as arsonists shifted from neighborhood to neighborhood, torching and looting homes of ministers and administrators, beating and stripping them.<\/p>\n Kathmandu was an inferno on September 9. Fire brigades were forbidden by police to move for security reasons. Even if mobilized, they were unprepared for such scale. No one foresaw violence of this nature.<\/p>\n Most Nepalis have slept poorly since the killings on September 8. Many are seething, grieving, tired and scared. While initial anger was directed at the KP Oli government and ruling coalition for killing unarmed protesters, confusion spread the next day. People no longer knew who was backing the arsonists or why specific homes and establishments were targeted, almost as if by a premeditated list.<\/p>\n Men on motorcycles went door to door, torching homes, leaving behind what sounded like victory cries. Some wielded guns stolen from police stations. In Maharajgunj Chakrapath, where I grew up, a high-ranking policeman was beaten to death by the mob. Some policemen were rescued and airlifted by army choppers on slings. This was the station my family and neighbors once looked to for security.<\/p>\n By the time Gen Z, who launched the protest, called for calm on social media and disavowed responsibility for the riots, too much damage had been done. Their call had been for peaceful protests against corruption, but their movement was hijacked.<\/p>\n When the army chief addressed the nation the evening of September 9, offering security and prohibitory orders, people sensed respite. Army trucks patrolled the city, but residents still spent the night in fear. Unknown groups broke into private homes in some places; looting was reported in others. Prisoners escaped in mass breakouts.<\/p>\n As the mayhem unfolded, I texted a young journalist friend in Kathmandu. She said she felt scared. I told her I would probably sleep with scissors tucked under my pillow, just in case. Rumors spread of rapes, later confirmed by the army.<\/p>\n Smoke rising from former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba\u2019s residence in Budanilkantha, Kathmandu (September 9, 2025) Photo @ Pratibha Tuladhar<\/p>\n During the attack on Kantipur TV, my former colleague Gautam escaped to safety. But with the army clampdown and curfew, he sheltered with an acquaintance instead of returning home.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will happen next, didi?\u201d he asked me. \u201cHow am I going to feed the kids? How will I educate them? The office I worked at is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n I had no answer. I mourned with him the loss of my former workplace. Kantipur TV, the largest private legacy media, was an institution that stood its ground. While media houses are about owners and advertisers, they are also about journalists \u2014 especially the nonpartisan ones who dedicate their lives to high standards.<\/p>\n Kantipur Media Group has had many such journalists over the years. During the April 2006 street protests, hundreds stopped outside its complex in Tinkune to clap and show gratitude for its journalism. Those of us inside looked out the windows, tears streaming down our faces. This week, the same establishment received the opposite treatment.<\/p>\n For many journalists, Kantipur was home \u2014 a place to launch treatises, ask difficult questions and urge the Nepali people to think. Its burning marks a troubling point in Nepal\u2019s history, where dedication to journalism has been vilified. Free and fair journalism is the foundation of democracy. Pulling down a media house like Kantipur signals the close of a period that trusted independent media. If one of the demands of this movement is restoring free speech, then attacking a media house is a symbolic contradiction.<\/p>\n Where does Nepal go from here? There\u2019s no clear answer. Are foreign elements at play? Dormant political groups? Who instigated the riots? Who should lead next?<\/p>\n As of September 12, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki accepted Gen Z\u2019s request to lead an interim government, with army backing. Preparations were underway to swear her in as interim prime minister. She would become Nepal\u2019s first woman executive.<\/p>\n Until then, we remain in anticipation. International media and friends flood us with messages of care and curiosity, but people here are too tired. We\u2019ve seen homes burn, loved ones die, colleagues shot and beaten, friends and family robbed. We\u2019ve watched property and institutions destroyed. We\u2019ve seen men brandishing guns and khukuris, threatening innocents.<\/p>\n Who are these men? Who mobilized them? Where have the former ministers fled? Who is being sheltered at army barracks? What will the army\u2019s role morph into? How will an interim government be instated? Will the Constitution be amended? Who will comfort the mothers of the dead? What about the jobs lost because workplaces burned?<\/p>\n Questions abound. But for now, Nepalis need rest, support and strength to rebuild when this chaos ends and the air clears.<\/p>\n It was supposed to be a routine flight. The sky was clear, the horizon stretched endlessly, and only a few thin clouds drifted lazily above. No one watching the passenger plane ascend could have imagined that within minutes they would witness something that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n The aircraft was climbing steadily, engines humming with confidence, when suddenly an impossible phenomenon occurred. High above, a perfect black circle appeared in the sky. It was unnaturally precise, as if someone had drawn it with a compass against the blue canvas of the heavens. And then\u2014before anyone could fully comprehend what was happening\u2014the plane began to vanish into it.<\/p>\n The Mysterious Black Circle<\/p>\n Eyewitnesses insist the event lasted no longer than a few seconds. The circle hung motionless, like a gateway suspended in the air. The plane entered it\u2014and dissolved. No explosion. No smoke. Not even a sound. One moment it was there, the next it was gone.<\/p>\n One witness recalled:<\/p>\n \u201cI blinked, and the plane was gone. It didn\u2019t crash\u2014it was as if it slipped behind a curtain. My body went cold. I couldn\u2019t breathe. I\u2019ve never seen anything more terrifying in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Attempts to record the phenomenon were futile. Phones pointed at the sky showed only an empty horizon, as though the circle itself resisted being captured.<\/p>\n Illusion or Something Beyond Science?<\/p>\n Experts were quick to respond with theories. Some suggested a rare optical illusion caused by atmospheric light refraction. But this explanation immediately raised doubts: the circle was far too perfect, its boundaries unnervingly sharp, to be dismissed as a trick of light.<\/p>\n Others proposed that the witnesses had fallen victim to mass hallucination. Yet how could that account for the complete disappearance of a plane that never sent another signal, never returned to radar, and left behind no wreckage?<\/p>\n Conspiracies and Dark Theories<\/p>\n Speculation soon spread. Some whispered of portals to other dimensions, briefly opening and swallowing anything caught in their path. Others spoke of secret military experiments\u2014classified technologies capable of tearing space apart.<\/p>\n Several witnesses insist the circle was not just an object but something alive. They described it as pulsing, expanding and contracting, like a living void drawing the aircraft into its depths.<\/p>\n Terror Among the Witnesses<\/p>\n For days after the event, people reported feeling restless, plagued by nightmares and an eerie sound\u2014like the distant roar of engines\u2014that seemed to echo in the night. Psychologists who later examined them observed symptoms of trauma similar to those experienced by survivors of disasters.<\/p>\n The Vanished Plane<\/p>\n The most chilling detail remains: the plane was never found. No debris. No emergency beacon. Nothing. The aircraft simply vanished from existence, leaving families of passengers without answers and investigators with nothing but silence.<\/p>\n Radar systems reported no abnormal readings. It was as though the plane had been erased from reality itself.<\/p>\n The Unanswered Question<\/p>\n Was it a rare atmospheric illusion, a phenomenon science cannot yet explain, or proof that reality is far stranger than we believe? Witnesses are certain of what they saw, and their terror cannot be dismissed.<\/p>\n And perhaps the most disturbing question is this: if such a circle appeared once, what will happen if it appears again?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President’s Office in flames KATHMANDU: On Tuesday, Nepal\u2019s streets became the stage for an extraordinary upheaval\u2014nearly cinematic in its intensity and devastating in its implications. Simultaneously, Singha Durbar, the Supreme Court, Parliament,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t