At a military commission meeting held yesterday in Naypyidaw, terrorist military leader Min Aung Hlaing stated that it is necessary to study and draw lessons from the protests that occurred in Nepal. The protests in Nepal began on September 8 when the government imposed restrictions on social media usage. What started as demonstrations by Generation Z youth against social media restrictions evolved into protests against government corruption, ultimately leading to the fall of the government led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.
On September 13, the President of Nepal announced the appointment of former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as the caretaker Prime Minister. The protests in Nepal were primarily led by Generation Z youth and resulted in government ministers being forced to flee into the streets. Demonstrating youth set fire to the parliament building and prime minister’s residence in Kathmandu, and some government ministers were captured by protesters. Despite police forces firing on civilians resulting in deaths of protesters and youth, the Nepalese military stood with the people, leading to the fall of the corrupt government.
Min Aung Hlaing claimed that the protests originated from efforts to register social media platforms and suggested that some powerful nations were involved behind the scenes of these demonstrations. He emphasized the need to extract lessons from Nepal’s protests for their own country. The protests in Nepal demonstrated how civilian power, particularly led by youth, could successfully overthrow a corrupt government. During the protests, demonstrators managed to not only occupy key government buildings but also effectively challenge the authority of the ruling administration.
The ousted Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli had previously met and shaken hands with Min Aung Hlaing at the BIMSTEC meeting hosted by Thailand in April this year. The Nepal protests serve as a significant example of how people’s power, particularly youth-led movements, can successfully remove a corrupt government. The events in Nepal highlighted the crucial role of military alignment with civilian interests, as the Nepalese military’s decision to stand with the people proved decisive in the government’s eventual fall.
