Nepal’s Reaction to Corruption
“Thud.” Bodies drop. Shrieks of distressed protesters. 19 KIA, 340 injured
During a protest against the Nepalese social media ban on 9/8/25, thousands of people crowded the streets of Kathmandu. Law enforcement involved themselves, firing rubber bullets, throwing tear gas, and using water cannons, which led the protesters to become hostile, trying to throw the tear gas back at the officers as they shouted and rioted. In the event of the altercation, police began to open fire with live ammunition, 19 lives were taken, and 340 people were injured. This caused outrage; people began to curse the government, leading to the imposition of a curfew in Kathmandu. The curfew was ignored, and on 9/9/25, the people of Kathmandu set the capital, as well as the homes of government officials, ablaze.
Death, injury, and abuse of power. From an inconvenient protest to arson. “Stop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media,” the crowds had chanted.
Nepal has since lifted the ban; however, the damage has been done. Lives taken, houses destroyed. Both sides are at fault; this is a story of government corruption and public retaliation. It illustrates the consequences of a corrupt government and its impact on the nation.
The Sad Truth
Government corruption is a worldwide crisis; who’s to say something of this sort won’t happen to us tomorrow? We live in a society where we can’t even trust the people who run our nation, a saddening yet truthful reality. However, people tend to care less about politics, simply because it doesn’t immediately affect them. They do not worry about political corruption or injustice. This lack of awareness and refusal to change is what allows the government to continue in its faulty ways; it’s not the governmental system itself, but the people in charge. Biases, abuse of power, discrimination, all running rampant in the modern American political system, and people couldn’t care less.
The Nepalese revolution had nothing to do with social media but rather with the government’s abuse of power; they were tired of the manipulation. The question is, when are we going to be wary of manipulation? We complain about inflation, discrimination, and injustice, yet we seldom take action. Imagine if, as a unit, we stood up and addressed the iniquity in our society. Maybe at a less extreme level, but still acknowledging and taking initiative.
Alas, everyone has their own respective thoughts and opinions; some may disagree, seeing a revolt as harmful, while others may be entirely ecstatic for chaos and change. Then some citizens are complacent in their lifestyle and do not wish to be involved.
Involved or not, you cannot ignore the wrongdoing among us, among our government. We sit in our houses, content with our lives, nothing more than assets. We work and work for a future that becomes less plausible every day. When will this nation get tired, tired like Nepal? “Thud.” Bodies drop. Shrieks of distressed protesters. 19 Americans K.I.A., 340 Americans injured. What would you do?
