The Mayor of Kathmandu, Bhalen Shah, paid tribute to the members of the Z generation who died during the protests in Nepal, calling their sacrifices a turning point for the country’s future.
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“Dear Z generation, your contributions and sacrifices have led to change in the country. We pay tribute to the brave martyrs. Your contributions are invaluable and will always guide future generations on the path of patriotism and duty,” Shah wrote on social media.
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At the end of last week, the Nepalese authorities imposed a ban on the activities of a number of large social networks that did not register with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on time. This step led to mass protests by young people, dubbed the “Generation Z revolution” in the media. As the Kathmandu Post reported, citing the Ministry of Health, 51 people were killed and more than a thousand injured in clashes with the police.
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The government has decided to lift the ban on social media in Nepal, but the protests have not subsided.
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Demonstrators called for the resignation of the country’s Prime Minister, Sharma Oli. On Tuesday, they set fire to his private residence, stormed the government complex, and burned down the central office of the ruling Nepalese Congress Party and the parliament building. The Nepalese Prime Minister resigned, and members of the government were evacuated by helicopter from their residences. Late on Tuesday, the Nepalese Armed Forces took control of maintaining order in the streets of Kathmandu and other cities in the country.
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Almost a week after the unrest began, Nepal’s former chief justice, Sushila Karki, was sworn in to lead the transition as the country’s next prime minister.
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Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Poudel appointed Karki as the head of the interim government, tasked with holding elections to the House of Representatives (the lower house of Nepal’s parliament) within six months.