Nepal’s Youth Refuse to Back Down

News Desk

Kathmandu: For 22-year-old university student Aditya Rawal, Nepal’s recent youth-led protests have left behind more than physical wounds. Shot while trying to help an injured friend outside parliament, Rawal says the violence has strengthened his determination to demand political change.

Rawal was among hundreds of protesters gathered outside Nepal’s parliament when gunfire erupted. At least 14 people fell in front of him, including a university friend. As he rushed forward to help, he was also hit by bullets.

“I heard somewhere that if you raise both hands, they will not shoot you,” Rawal told AFP from a hospital bed in Kathmandu. “But I was their target.”

Rawal is recovering at the Civil Service Hospital with his leg heavily bandaged and bullet fragments lodged in his arm and stomach. Despite his injuries, he said he would return to the streets if necessary.

“If there is no change, we still have time to fight,” he said, demanding a transparent government, an end to corruption and protection against dictatorship.

The violence erupted during a youth-led movement that initially brought protesters onto the streets over a government ban on social media. The demonstrations quickly grew into a wider expression of frustration over corruption, economic hardship and limited opportunities for young people.

At least 72 people were killed during the unrest that began on September 8. The protests eventually forced the veteran prime minister to resign, while parliament and several government buildings were set on fire before the army restored control.

The unrest marked Nepal’s most serious political violence since the end of the country’s decade-long civil war and the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.

A generation demanding a different future

The protests have highlighted the growing frustration among young Nepalis facing unemployment and limited economic prospects. World Bank data shows that around one in five Nepalis aged 15 to 24 are unemployed, while GDP per capita remains relatively low in the Himalayan nation of around 30 million people.

At the Civil Service Hospital, the human cost of the demonstrations remains visible.

Nurse Usha Khanal, 36, recalled treating wounded protesters while the hospital itself was affected by tear gas. She said her gloves became “drenched with blood” as medical staff struggled to treat the injured.

The hospital treated 458 wounded protesters, six of whom later died. Four of those fatalities were under 30, reflecting the predominantly youthful character of the movement.

Among the injured is 19-year-old Subash Dhakal, who was shot in both knees and is expected to remain largely bedridden for months.

Dhakal said the sacrifices made by protesters should lead to lasting political reforms.

“This has toppled the government and formed a new one,” he said, adding that young people did not want Nepal to return to the conditions that triggered the protests.

His mother, Bhawani Dhakal, a 45-year-old government schoolteacher, had supported his decision to join the demonstrations, even giving him money for the bus journey from their hometown about 30 kilometres away.

She had herself participated in protests earlier in the year over an education bill but said those demonstrations failed to produce meaningful change.

“This has brought change in just 24 hours,” she said.

From street protests to political transition

The unrest has now pushed Nepal into a new political phase. Former chief justice Sushila Karki, 73, was sworn in as interim prime minister on Friday with the task of guiding the country towards elections within six months.

For injured protesters such as Rawal and Dhakal, however, the formation of a new government is only the beginning.

Dhakal said he had no regrets about participating in the protests and viewed his injuries as a sacrifice for a wider cause.

“I have done it not only for me,” he said. “It was for everyone.”

As Nepal begins its political transition, the young people who filled its streets are now waiting to see whether the sacrifices of those killed and injured will translate into the transparent government and economic opportunities they demanded.

For Rawal, the answer will determine whether the movement has truly achieved what it set out to accomplish.