Deepak AdhikariKathmandu – When 27-year-old Naresh Rawal scrolled through TikTok videos exposing the flashy “nepokids” lifestyles of Nepal’s political elite—their children flaunting luxury cars, watches, and sunglasses—he saw his own frustrations reflected.
A student from western Nepal, scraping by on odd jobs in Kathmandu, Rawal joined thousands of Gen Z protesters outside parliament to vent his anger at the inequality between rulers and ordinary citizens.
Within an hour, police killed 19 protesters, and tear gas followed them even into hospitals. Rawal was unhurt. But when he returned home and scrolled through news channels, he was dismayed: Indian television channels declared the protests he had joined were not about inequality but about restoring Nepal’s monarchy.
“I was moved by the campaign that showed how politicians’ children lived in luxury without visible sources of income,” Rawal said. “But the Indian media didn't show this as the primary factor. It boggled my mind.”
This week’s protests—one of the largest youth-led protests in Nepal since the mid-2000s—have left over 50 people dead across the country. A similar protest in 2006, led by political parties and Maoists, overthrew the Shah monarchy that had ruled the country for 240 years.
The Gen Z protest forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign and triggered widespread arson and looting, eventually leading to the army’s mobilisation and talks with protesters on an interim government.
Yet, to millions watching just across the border in India, the news media told a very different story. On India’s prime-time news channels, the angry faces of young Nepalis were framed not as a rebellion against corruption but as a campaign to restore Nepal’s Hindu monarchy, abolished in 2008.
While right-wing television led the charge, newspapers and digital outlets also amplified the narrative. In the process, their coverage downplayed the protesters’ actual grievances, corruption, inequality, and economic hardship by focusing on the theme that was never central to the demonstrations.
This gap underscores a battle over narrative: Nepali youth demanding accountability versus Indian media, especially outlets close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), eager to weave the protests into its own narrative.
Yuban Rajbhandari, a Gen Z leader, called such reports “completely false.” He told TRT World, “The Indian media is pushing a false narrative about restoring the monarchy. It reflects their vested interests, not ours. We cannot return to such a regressive system. Not once did we raise slogans for monarchy during our protests.”
“We may be young, but we are conscious of our history. We are not opposed to the current political system, which was achieved through great sacrifice,” Rajbhandari said.
Corruption, inequality, and unemployment
The demonstrators were overwhelmingly young – college students, fresh graduates and twenty-something professionals demanding accountability and jobs.
On the streets of Kathmandu, jubilant chants and drumbeats gave way to the wail of ambulances. Bloodstained sneakers lay abandoned on the asphalt beside shards of broken placards. The protesters, many of whom were in school uniform, ran for their lives as the acrid sting of tear gas lingered in the air.
Dipesh Ghimire, an assistant professor of sociology at Tribhuvan University, said grievances were not abstract but tied to everyday struggles. “For many, it is not just about corruption in the abstract but about their own lives being trapped in a cycle of unemployment and lack of opportunity in the country,” he told TRT World.
Nepal, one of South Asia’s poorest nations, faced a youth unemployment rate of nearly 21 percent in 2024 among those aged 14 to 24, according to the World Bank. In the fiscal year 2024/25 alone, more than 839,000 Nepalis left for jobs in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Their remittances, making up about a quarter of Nepal’s GDP, remain the lifeline of the economy.
Nepal and India share a 1,751-kilometre open border through which Nepal imports vital goods, including food, fuel, and medicines. As a landlocked nation, Nepal remains heavily reliant on its southern neighbour. The two countries are also bound by cultural proximity, with both being Hindu-majority countries.
Despite the proximity, Indian journalists covering the Gen Z protest in Kathmandu faced backlash. A video on X showed NDTV’s Aditya Raj Kaul having his live report disrupted by protesters banging plates. Another clip showed a TV9 reporter being chased mid-broadcast.
Observers said the framing aligns with the BJP’s regional narrative. For India’s ruling party, Hindu nationalism is not just domestic but resonates across South Asia. By presenting Nepali protests as a longing for monarchy and Hindu identity, the Indian media aligned the events with the BJP’s ideological ambition.
“The Indian media, barring some exceptions, largely views neighbouring countries through the lens of the Ministry of External Affairs,” said Dinesh Kafle, a former opinion editor at The Kathmandu Post.
“They have acted as an extension of the ministry since the 1990s, but this has escalated in the last decade with the rise of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party,” he told TRT World.
“They now not only peddle official versions but often frame stories to please the government.”
How Indian media shapes the story
Other pressures, he said, come from a cutthroat newsroom culture. “Instead of digging deeper or exploring nuances, reporters resort to black-and-white portrayals. It’s hard to humanise a story of corruption or injustice. But you can easily portray a protest either for India or against it.”
In Nepal, the coverage has sparked anger and criticism, with local activists and media insisting the protests have nothing to do with restoring the former monarchy.
On September 11, Kantipur, the country’s leading daily, reported that while Western media explored corruption, unemployment, and the social media ban as triggers, much of the Indian media pushed conspiracy theories – claiming either foreign powers like China and the US or a “deep state,” a conspiratorial term denoting bureaucracy and security forces, were behind the protest.
“I am sure there are excellent journalists working in Indian newsrooms. They know all the fundamentals of journalism. But why don’t they follow it? Because even the public wants dramatic visuals. That's why they dumb down the news. By being shallow, they are catering to their domestic audience,” Kafle said.
For Indian media, monarchist voices provide convenient soundbites. “It is easier to explain Nepal’s unrest as a religious uprising than to delve into the complexities of corruption, unemployment and democratic failure,” he said.
As Indian television channels – accessible in Nepal – continued to sensationalise the unrest with gory footage, a very different reality unfolded on the ground.
Two days after the mayhem that saw all three state bodies – the judiciary, parliament, and government – set ablaze along with the homes of major party leaders and public buildings, the capital is slowly picking up the pieces.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the Nepal Army has eased the curfew, encouraging small gatherings, while offices reopen. The protesters have proposed an interim government led by Sushila Karki, a former chief justice.
“The conflagration is over. We have entered into a political transition, which makes us hopeful for our future,” Kafle said. “But you see nothing of that if you switch on Indian news channels now.”
