'How organic is Nepal's Gen Z revolt?': Sanjeev Sanyal sees toolkit playbook across South Asia

Economist Sanjeev Sanyal on Tuesday suggested that Nepal's violent uprising leading to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's resignation may not be entirely organic. "Irrespective of what one thinks of PM Oli's regime or his future, the same toolkit gets used suspiciously often in the neighbourhood," Sanyal said in a post on X.

"We saw similar use of students as fodder in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc. We saw something similar in Indonesia just last week but it petered out. So, it does raise the question of how 'organic' these things are," the economist added.

His remarks came hours after Oli quit following two days of youth-led protests triggered by the government’s controversial social media ban. Twenty people were killed on Monday and more than 250 injured when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.

Despite the government announcing the ban was lifted, protesters demanded Oli’s ouster and the complete dismissal of the administration. "To facilitate a solution to the problem and to help resolve it politically," Oli said in his resignation letter, according to his aide Prakash Silwal.

Sources said Oli had earlier sought military assistance from Nepal Army Chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel for both crowd control and his own safe evacuation. The Army Chief reportedly told him the military could only stabilise the situation if he relinquished power.

By Tuesday afternoon, security operations intensified across Kathmandu. Around a dozen helicopters took off from Bhaisepati ministerial quarters to move officials to Tribhuvan International Airport. At least five army helicopters were deployed to fly key ministers to safety.

Tribhuvan airport was later shut down, with all flights cancelled amid warnings that protesters were planning to disrupt operations by flying drones, launching fireworks and using laser lights to interfere with aircraft.

Demonstrations also spread to political strongholds. Protesters torched Nepal’s Parliament building and vandalised the private residences of both Prime Minister Oli and President Ram Chandra Paudel. They attacked Singha Durbar, the government complex housing ministers and Parliament, with videos of the assault circulating widely online.