One question persisted in the nation during the 48 hours that Nepal’s Gen-Z revolution took place: “Where is their Lenin?” However, perhaps the purpose of that question was missed. Every Nepali revolution has been undone by those who claimed to be in charge of it for decades, not by its enemies. The movement’s greatest strength was not the lack of a single figurehead at this time; it was rather its greatest strength.
One name, Sudan Gurung, the head of the youth-led organization Hami Nepal, started to appear after the protests. Gurung, however, did not take the lead in the uprising; he only emerged after the event was over acting more as a spokesperson than as a commander. His precarious standing served as evidence of how this revolt differed. Nepal’s young protesters resisted giving anoint to a leader, breaking with a pre-existing system where the majority of power was largely concentrated in the hands of the elite. They demonstrated that charismatic behavior could lead to change in the individual rather than the group.
The enormous human cost of regaining power was also revealed by the same revolution that reimagined leadership. It was among Nepal’s worst 48 hours in the country, both in terms of human life and economics. In the clashes, at least 74 people were killed and roughly 2, 113 were hurt. The Parliament Building, the Supreme Court, and the Singha Durbar, three of democracy’s three pillars, were torched. At least 300 local government offices were hacked, and the violence did not just stop in the capital. The media, Nepal’s largest private outlet, the Kantipur Media House, was the target of fire, as well as the fourth pillar of democracy, the media. According to preliminary government estimates, Nepal’s public infrastructure has lost close to one trillion rupees, nearly half of Nepal’s annual gross domestic product, accounting for the economic damage of up to three trillion rupees (roughly $21 billion).
The state apparatus was completely destroyed by September 10. The army was the only institution keeping things order, parliament was inruins, and the prime minister had resigned. The decentralized nature of the revolution expanded even more in this political vacuum. The “Youths Against Corruption” Discord channel was used as an impromptu public square by protest organizers to make their decision. Thousands of people debating during the so-called “Discord Election.” A “marathon session” more appropriate for a Twitch stream was described as “a struggle for moderators to manage a slew of opinions from users with unidentified anime avatars and handles.” Over 7,500 people cast their ballots on the platform, ultimately choosing Sushila Karki as their interim prime minister.
However, it would be unfair to history to simply interpret these events as the defining factor for this revolution. The uprising was a response, not a plan. Simply put, we were protesting in high schools and universities. The initial stage of the massacre of 19 protesters, some of whom were still wearing uniforms, turned into racial unrest. The targets were unavoidably those of a state that would murder its own citizens.
The physical chaos has dissipated right now. Nepalis are now regaining hope thanks to a new interim government with technocratic ministers. But there is a problem: Will we abandon the practice of limiting leadership to leaders, or will we adopt a new standard for them? The Nepalese people held the notion that the public was in charge for 48 hours. The general public discovered this truth through chaos, not just a belief.
The challenge for Nepalis, Gen-Z and beyond, is to never forget the lessons of this revolution. We must also inquire as to how and why it happened, but history will not forget what took place on September 8 and 9.
Nepal’s political history must be understood as a continuous pattern rather than a collection of episodic events. The uprising of 2025 was the most recent example of a long line of betrayal and revolt. Not as ideology as as a framework, but as a Marxist analytical lens can be helpful. The terms “base” and “superstructure” can be used in political terms as well. The “political base” is understood as Nepal’s firmly established system of power, a network of patronage, corruption, and governance that maintains the status quo. The “political superstructure” is the opposition’s “decentralized public,” sometimes an organized party, or another force. This framework exposes a tragic cycle: each succeeding superstructure in Nepal simply becomes the new base.
Consider the first revolution of the century in Nepal in 1951. From this perspective, the Rana regime’s old autocratic foundation was being viewed as the political superstructure. The revolution’s heroes included actors like B.P. Koirala, King Tribhuvan, and the five martyrs, but one cannot deny the roles that the exiled parties, the aspirant bourgeoisie, and a restored monarchy played. Koirala, who became Nepal’s first democratically elected prime minister, was a face of those hopes.
However, those dreams never materialized. Almost ten years later, King Mahendra dissolved parliament, abolished the parties, and established the Panchayat system, granting the monarchy itself the power to exercise its power. Although some claim that this time period was a golden age, protests there in 1980 and, in the end, the People’s Movement I, Nepal’s second great revolution, are what resulted.
The same pattern was followed by that revolution. It brought back multi-party democracy and once more altered the political landscape. The underlying structures of patronage and feudalism were not dismantled by the democratic elite, which was made up of the same parties that had fought the Panchayat. They instead established a new political elite, perfecting a kleptocratic system that would entail a bloody civil war. Another dark chapter was opened by the Maoist insurgency, which had been brewing for years before its initial attack.
The Maoist movement, which culminated in People’s Movement II, seems to perfectly fit this Marxist lens, given its roots in communist theory. However, it too repeated Nepal’s tragic cycle despite its ideological undertones. The political base was simply replaced by the Maoist elites, who were the only ones who did so. Commanders assumed the same corrupt structures they once criticized as ministers. They ignored the economic contradictions at the heart of their revolution and continued to perpetuate the same kleptocracy through the old patronage networks. The structures remained the same despite the slogan changes.
In retrospect, their leadership may be the decisive factor in all these revolutions. Leaders on all political parties turned into opportunists, supporting a kleptocratic regime hailed as democracy-declared and referred to as “People’s Movements.” The people’s expectations were never fulfilled. In this context, Nepal’s recent Gen-Z revolution’s lack of leadership was not its greatest strategic advantage but rather its greatest weakness.
This historical pattern demonstrates that the Gen-Z revolution of 2025 was not the result of a quick burst but rather the detonation of a bomb that had been developing for decades. The only thing that caught the attention was the social media ban. Each “failed” revolution added pressure on a politically divided Nepali electorate who had long believed in the need for uprising.
Nepal’s revolutionary youth is now faced with the daunting task of breaking the vicious cycle of betrayal perpetrated by the government itself. Change of who has power is no longer the goal, but rather how it is defined. We must never confide in any self-declared savior for the sake of mankind. Our only hope is ourselves, as taught in September. We have always been the same as ourselves, not the king, the prime minister, the president, or the mayor. Another leader cannot allow the people’s agency to be hijacked. Nepal’s civic DNA needs to include accountability in order to maintain a vigilant, organized, and alert citizenry. September 8 and 9 will never be forgotten and will never be the same. With the people, the power must continue to exist where it was first discovered.
Source: Aljazeera
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