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Nepal’s Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday amid surging protests that began as a movement against corruption and inequality but exploded into broader calls for change after 19 youths were shot dead by security forces during clashes on Monday.
Protests continued on Tuesday morning, with agitators torching several buildings seen as associated with Nepal’s elite, even as ministers resigned and pressure built on Oli to follow suit.
However, despite Oli’s resignation, Nepal remains on edge, with protesters seeking sweeping changes to the country’s political landscape. Kathmandu’s international airport cancelled all flights scheduled for Tuesday.
Here’s the latest on the churn in Nepal, and the triggers driving the anger that has fuelled these protests:
What happened during the protests on Monday?
Protests began at 9am (03:15 GMT) on Monday in Kathmandu’s Maitighar neighbourhood. Thousands of young protesters, including high school students in their uniforms, took to the streets.
Dubbed the “Gen Z protest”, it was organised by the nonprofit organisation Hami Nepal, meaning “We are Nepal”. According to the Kathmandu District Administration Office, the NGO had secured approval for it. The protest spread to other cities.
Within hours, some protesters broke barricades set up by the police and entered the parliament premises in New Baneshwor. This resulted in clashes with the police, who opened fire on the protesters. Authorities imposed a curfew in the area until the evening.
At least 17 people were killed in Kathmandu, while two were killed in the eastern city of Itahari after protests turned violent, according to the police.
More than 100 people, including 28 police officers, were being treated for their injuries, according to police officer Shekhar Khanal, the Reuters news agency reported.
In a statement released late on Monday night, Oli said he was “deeply saddened” by the protesters’ deaths and called for an investigation into the violence.
What’s the latest on the ground in Nepal?
Authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew, which now covers Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts. The curfew order bars public gatherings, sit-ins and protests.
Oli resigned from his position on Tuesday, his secretariat confirmed.
However, on Tuesday, young protesters continued to rally on the streets of Kathmandu. They gathered near the parliament building, but did not carry any posters, local media reported.
They burned tyres while demonstrating in Kathmandu’s Kalanki area.
They also set fire to the Nepali Congress (NC) party’s central office in Sanepa, a neighbourhood in Lalitpur, about 5km (3 miles) from Kathmandu. Since last year, the NC — one of Nepal’s largest political parties — has been a coalition partner of Oli’s governing Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).
Oli’s resignation came after some of his ministers stepped down in the aftermath of Monday’s deaths. On Monday, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned. Agriculture Minister Ramnath Adhikari quit his post on Tuesday.
Who are ‘nepo kids’ and why are they upsetting Nepali youth?
A key trigger for the protests, say activists and experts, has been a growing perception that the families of the ruling elite live lives of relative luxury in an otherwise poor nation, exposing deep inequalities.
On Nepali social media, the term “nepo kids” — a play on nepotism — was viral in the weeks leading up to Monday’s protests. The term is commonly used to refer to the children of top government officials and ministers.
Nepal’s government officials and politicians have long faced accusations of widespread corruption, opacity over how public money is spent, and whether parts of it are used to fund the lavish lifestyles that their families appear to enjoy, despite modest official salaries.
Several videos on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram show the relatives of government officials and ministers travelling in or posing next to expensive cars and wearing designer brands.
“The anger over ‘nepo kids’ in Nepal reflects deep public frustration,” said Yog Raj Lamichhane, an assistant professor at the School of Business in Nepal’s Pokhara University. What strikes ordinary Nepalis is how political leaders — the parents of the so-called nepo kids — who once lived modestly as party workers “now flaunt extravagant lifestyles as established figures,” Lamichhane told Al Jazeera.
That is why protesters are demanding the formation of a special investigation commission to “thoroughly investigate the sources of their [politicians’] property, highlighting broader concerns about corruption and economic disparity in the country”, he said.
Nepal has traditionally been a deeply feudal society, with a monarchy in place until less than two decades ago, pointed out Dipesh Karki, an assistant professor at Kathmandu University’s School of Management.
Throughout the country’s history, “those who came into power have wielded their control over the resources and the wealth of the nation, resulting in what we can dub as an elite capture”, Karki told Al Jazeera.
Earlier this week, a video on TikTok showed images of Sayuj Parajuli, the son of former Nepali Supreme Court Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli, posing next to cars and in fancy restaurants. “Openly flexing luxury cars and watches on social media. Aren’t we tired of them by now?” the caption read.
Another video showed similar images of Saugat Thapa, son of Bindu Kumar Thapa, the law and parliamentary affairs minister in Oli’s government.
Karki said urban wealth and businesses, as well as educational opportunities, are largely concentrated among elite families, particularly those with political connections.
“The children of politicians are living off the political dividend.”
How unequal is Nepal?
Nepal’s per capita annual income of approximately $1,400 is the lowest in South Asia. Its poverty rate has consistently hovered over 20 percent in recent years.
The country’s youth unemployment has been a big challenge, while the percentage of unemployed Nepali youth also not pursuing education stood at 32.6 percent in 2024, compared with 23.5 percent for neighbouring India, according to World Bank data.
As a result, about 7.5 percent of the country’s population was living abroad in 2021. By comparison, about 1 percent of Indians live outside their country. In 2022, about 3.2 percent of Pakistan’s population was abroad.
Nepal’s economy heavily relies on remittances from its citizens working abroad. “It’s really a harsh reality that most of the poor are outside Nepal, sending remittances to Nepal,” Karki said.
As of 2024, personal remittances received comprised 33.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) — among the highest in the world, after Tonga, for which the percentage was 50 percent; Tajikistan at 47.9 percent; and Lebanon at 33.3 percent.
For India, this percentage was 3.5 percent and for Pakistan, 9.4 percent, in the same year.
Karki said land ownership remains unequal despite land reform efforts. “The top 10 percent of households own over 40 percent of land, while a large share of the rural poor are landless or we can say near landless.”
“What is transpiring in Nepal today can be considered a … total of prevalent inequality that has plagued the nation since time immemorial,” Karki said.
