• Source:JND
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Nepal Gen Z protests:  As Nepal reels under the impact of violent anti-government demonstrations, an old video of a Nepali schoolboy’s impassioned speech against corruption and unemployment has resurfaced online and is drawing widespread attention. The clip, recorded during the 24th annual programme of Holy Bell English Secondary School earlier this year, features Abiskar Raut, the head boy, delivering a fiery call for change. His words, once spoken in a school auditorium, are now being echoed on the streets by thousands of protesters.

“We are bounded by the chains of unemployment, seeing a broad source of opportunities. We are trapped by the selfish games of political parties. Corruption has grown on a web that is extinguishing the light of our futures,” Raut declared in the speech that has gone viral. The young student urged his peers to rise above despair and take responsibility for building a new Nepal. “If you do not raise your voices, who will? If you do not build this nation, who will? We are the fire that will burn away the darkness,” he said, drawing loud applause in the video.

Viral Clip Amid Political Turmoil

The resurfacing of the schoolboy’s speech comes at a time when Nepal has witnessed unprecedented unrest. Gen Z protesters flooded the streets after the government imposed, and later rolled back a ban on 26 social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. What began as a digital freedom movement quickly turned into a mass anti-establishment agitation, forcing Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and President Ram Chandra Poudel to resign. Parliament was set ablaze, the Prime Minister’s private residence was attacked, and several senior politicians’ homes were targeted by enraged crowds. At least 19 people have died, and hundreds more have been injured in clashes with security forces.

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In his viral speech, Raut also invoked the memory of King Birendra, saying, “Even if I die, shall my country live on.” He urged the youth to carry forward the torch of change. “Our ancestors shed their blood to give us this nation, we cannot sell it, we cannot lose it. We are the fire, we will burn every despair away,” he declared. The video has since been widely shared on social media, with many protesters quoting lines from it during demonstrations.

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With political leadership in crisis, the Nepali Army has taken full control of security operations across the country. Troops are deployed in Kathmandu and other cities, including Pokhara, Birgunj and Butwal. The Tribhuvan International Airport has been taken over by the army, leaving several Indian pilgrims and tourists stranded.