On September 8th 2025 the riots in Nepal began. The protests that were led by Gen Z started from the government deciding to ban social media mwhich was placed just 4 days prior to the protests. Gen Z protestors took over the streets of the capital Kathmandu on September 8th, setting fire to multiple government buildings including the Supreme Court of Nepal. Officials say that at least 74 people have died and several hundreds are left injured. 10 out of the 74 people that died during the riots were inmates who had escaped from prison.
On Sept. 12, Sushila Karki was selected as the prime minister of Nepal. Surprisingly, the new prime minister of Nepal was voted in by a Discord vote. The New York Times interviewed Sid Ghimire a 23 year old content creator from Kathmandu. “The Parliament of Nepal right now is Discord,” the chat app popular with young gamers, a 23-year-old online content creator from Kathmandu, Sid Ghimire, told The New York Times. A nongovernment organization on Discord with 16m000 people voted her in. This makes her the first female prime minister in Nepal.
Mr. Bobrinskoy, a history teacher, was asked how strong the youth can be when it comes to things like this. “Some youth/political protest movements have been very successful in America for bringing about political change. The Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s is a great example. Protests at home during the Vietnam War, which were heavily driven by young people, put significant pressure on Presidents Johnson and Nixon and ultimately played a key role in America determining it was not worth it to continue fighting. Other protest movements like Occupy Wall Street that protested big banks and the top 1% during the Great Recession mostly failed because they couldn’t unite behind common goals or measurable outcomes.”
Just like the Nepal riots, Madagascar is having riots that are trying to over throw the government. In both countries, they had similar drawings on cardboard. A pirate looking figure with bones coming out of its back and a z on its helmet. This could end up leading other countries like Haiti and Colombia into protests.
According to CNN journalist Lex Harvey, “The flag comes from the wildly popular 1997 Japanese manga One Piece by Eciichiro Oda, which tells the swashbuckling story of the charming pirate captain Monkey D. Luffy and his misfit “Straw Hat” crew. Together, they set sail under a Jolly Roger flag that wears Luffy’s quintessential straw hat and his trademark beaming smile.”
Harvey interviewed Bikhyat Khatri, one of the organizers of the Nepal protests, who explained that the flag “symbolizes aggression and determination to push anything that comes in its way.”
