Premal Kumar Khanal
Young students in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu protest against government bans on social media
The peaceful protest, organized on September 8 in the name of Gen z, to end corruption and promote good governance, was violently suppressed by the state, resulting in the killing of 21 unarmed young students and security personnel.
After such a large-scale massacre, the government should have taken immediate steps to maintain peace and security in the country. After such a horrific massacre, an angry public took to the streets in protest on the morning of September 9. Under the guise of the people who took to the streets, some unruly people infiltrated and started burning and arson in government offices, residential houses of government ministers, former prime ministers, political party leaders, houses of businessmen, and department stores. They entered the main places of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur and Singha Durbar and set fire to government offices and ministries. Along with the burning that began in the valley, the burning and arson in the main cities outside the valley shocked the entire country. But despite such massacres and burning, the government could not maintain peace and security.
After such a difficult situation arose in the country, the Prime Minister of the coalition government, KP Oli, was forced to resign. After the resignation of Prime Minister KP Oli, political developments progressed and President Ram Chandra Poudel appointed former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as the Prime Minister of the interim government and, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, dissolved the House of Representatives and declared a general election for 5 March 2026.
The resignation of Prime Minister KP Oli, along with the ouster of the government, following a nationwide protest by Gen-G youth students in just 27 hours, has posed a serious challenge to the leftist movement in Nepal. The poverty, unemployment, irregularity, and corruption caused by the incompetence of the leftist-led government, and the peaceful protests by young students against these, as if by a coward, and the violent killing of nine young men by the government during this protest, have posed an even more serious challenge to the leftist movement.
In this way, the current Gen-G movement is the culmination of the incompetence of the state power. In particular, the left movement has faced challenges that have been seen in the past. The split of the CPN (Maoist) formed by the UML and the Maoists, the internal division within the UML, the leftists’ adoption of neoliberal economic policies as a guiding principle instead of implementing production and employment-focused programs in the government, have resulted in mountains of challenges before the government. Since the country’s multi-party system and republic, the leftists have had the opportunity to lead the government . After the leftists came to power, they developed personal ambitions and opportunistic tendencies for power. After coming to power, they could not run the government with policies and programs different from those of the bourgeois capitalists.
In the absence of a socialist socio-economic program, the leftists have not been able to work effectively for the basic needs of the people. young unemployed people were forced to go abroad for employment.
With inequality, unemployment, racism, bias and corruption went away.
The problems of workers and farmers have not been resolved.
Teachers in the country staged a nationwide strike for 29 days last year. The government also made an agreement but did not implement it as per the agreement. As a result, teachers are forced to work on temporary, contractual, low-wage jobs.
The failure to achieve revolutionary land reform, increase national production and create widespread employment opportunities has led to increased unemployment and migration, especially among the young unemployed. As a result, nearly one-third of the country’s total population has emigrated.
Not only this, right-wing and monarchist activities have increased in the country’s politics at this time. Yesterday, instead of taking action against the monarchists and former royalist Panchas who suppressed the people’s movement and looted under the guise of monarchy, as per the reports of the Malik Commission and the Rayamajhi Commission, the CPN-UML especially worked with them in the election colliation and inducted them into the parliament in significant numbers. After the former royalist Panchas came to parliament, they raised their voices in favor of the monarchy and Hindutwa in a more powerful manner. The right-wing and opportunist policies of the CPN UML are responsible for fueling all these activities. The working style and lifestyle of the leftists should be different from the capitalists. But after coming to power, the leftists could not be different from the bourgeoisie.
Serious challenges have arisen one after another in the country’s nationalism. The true guardians of patriotism and nationalism are the leftists. But in the meantime, the leftists have not been able to work on the issue of nationalism in a concrete manner after coming to power. On the contrary, they have become witnesses to its weakening.
Even though the US recently made public a report stating that Nepal is participating in the US Asia-Pacific Military Strategy (IPS) and the US State Partnership (SPA) program, the government did not deny or protest. On the contrary, the MCC, which was put forward by the US to make the IPS and SPA successful, was negotiated by the right and left to get it approved in parliament, and after approval from the parliament, the MCC has now been implemented.
The leftists who led the government repeatedly. Along with political change and constitution-making, the leftists have not been able to work in an exemplary, remarkable, and historic manner in socio-economic transformation. The main reason for this is that the leftists abandoned the neo-liberal socio-economic policy and went to government, implementing neo-liberal economic policies. It has become a joke to allocate money from the national treasury focused on their constituencies to win elections.
The leftists are still wandering in this capitalist maze.
Nepal has a large population of poor, unemployed, and working class. The left-wing parliamentary vote is nearly 60 percent. With the unity and cooperation of the leftists, a government with a majority of leftists can be formed in the upcoming elections at all three levels.
But it is necessary to form a common program of what to do after forming a government. It is necessary to set a program for socio-economic revolution, including an agenda to strengthen nationalism.
Now, the leftists can establish socialism by implementing a socialist socio-economic program with the goal of scientific socialism and carrying out a socialist revolution in Nepal. Socialism is not a matter of the distant future. With programmatic thinking and commitment, socialism can be established in Nepal. It is possible to carry out a socio-economic revolution in a prosperous country with natural resources.
The current leadership within the leftist parties, just as it played a role in the capitalist democratic revolution of the past, is not able to play a role in the socialist revolution of the future in a revolutionary manner. Therefore, in the current situation, there is a pressing need to reorganize within the leftist parties and achieve widespread left polarization and unity.
The reorganization of the leftist movement requires ideological clarity, organizational unity, socialist, people-oriented strategies, and the use of modern technology.
Therefore, it is now necessary to reorganize every leftist party in accordance with the Marxist-Leninist theory in terms of ideology and the program of the Nepali socialist revolution. The organizational structure and leadership should be built in a way that is people-centered. It is not a leadership of the Ganesh tendency that is isolated from the people and revolves around the leader at the top, but it is necessary to reorganize the organization and leadership in a way that spreads the consciousness of Marxism at the grassroots level, mobilizes the people widely, creates production and employment at the local level, and produces and mobilizes political commissars who can connect the Communist Party with the people by conducting class struggle from the local level itself.
While reorganizing the leadership, the flow of time, the wishes of the people, the state of demographic distribution, and the need to instill new optimism towards politics are also important.
The first generation leaders should take the lead in the new Communist Party that is now being formed, and reorganize it in a way that allows the young leaders of the second generation to take the lead in daily executive and organizational work.
The movement launched by the Genz youth students in Nepal on September 8 is of historical importance. This movement has set the direction to take the country forward. It is necessary for the leftists to form a common view and resolve issues such as reforming the governance system, reforming the costly electoral system, investigating the assets of those who have made immense wealth by exploiting irregularities, corruption and state power, taking action against those guilty of killing young students to suppress the movement, and taking action against those guilty of vandalizing and arson of national heritage, government buildings, private and commercial buildings, and participating in the upcoming elections by forming a common agenda of nationalism, livelihood, employment, and good governance through the left alliance.
The writer is the Politburo Member of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist)
