Nepal has shown what happens when graft becomes the foundation of governance

Residents at a supermarket that was set ablaze during protests in Kathmandu on September 13, 2025. [AFP]

On September 9 in Kathmandu, Nepal, thousands of Gen Z youth stormed Parliament, set it ablaze, overran police barricades, and forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign. The trigger was the government’s sudden decision to ban social media platforms, but the rage had been building for years over stocked corruption, widened inequality, and the sense that the ruling elite was callously hoarding wealth while the majority sank deeper into poverty.