Kathmandu on Fire: Army Rolls Out

“Gen Z” Burns Down the Old Guard

Nepal’s capital is no longer run by politicians in suits—it’s the army in boots now calling the shots. After two straight days of mayhem—Parliament in flames, the Supreme Court gutted, ministers’ homes torched, and even the Foreign Minister attacked—Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli threw in the towel on Tuesday and reportedly started packing his bags for Dubai.

The spark? A social media ban. The fuel? Years of corruption, dynastic “nepo kids” flashing their champagne lifestyles online, and a job market that’s given Nepal’s youth little more than a passport queue.

On Monday, police fired live rounds into crowds. Nineteen dead, more than a hundred wounded. By Tuesday, Parliament was literally burning. Ministers were being airlifted out of their own residences to escape mobs, while protesters even stormed prisons to set inmates free.

By Wednesday morning, the army took over Kathmandu’s streets. Curfews are in place, but the crowds don’t seem cowed—Discord chats with thousands of Gen Z activists are buzzing about demands: scrap Parliament, hold elections in six months, and maybe even let the people directly elect the next PM.

And who do they want? Not the old guard. Not another Oli or Prachanda or Deuba. The name echoing across TikTok and Twitter is Balendra “Balen” Shah—the 35-year-old rapper-turned-mayor of Kathmandu, who built his brand spitting verses about corruption. His fans now want him to run the country.

But whispers say the palace crowd smells an opening too. Monarchist nostalgia is back, and some royalists are floating 77-year-old ex-King Gyanendra as a “stability candidate.” For now, though, it’s the tanks and rifles of the Nepal Army keeping the capital from completely unraveling.

The gossip on the ground? Oli’s out, the youth are in, and the army’s holding the keys until someone decides what’s next.