The following piece is an opinion and does not reflect the views of The Eagle and its staff. All opinions are edited for grammar, style and argument structure and fact-checked, but the opinions are the writer’s own.
As the One Piece flag flies across Nepalese skies following the first ever Discord elections, the world wonders if Gen Z has been underestimated by the powerful — up until now.
On the morning of Sept. 6, 2025, an SUV carrying a minister from Nepal’s ruling party ran over 11-year-old Usha Magar Sunuwar in the town of Lalitpur. Nonetheless, instead of helping the child, the vehicle sped away. Miraculously, Usha survived the incident, becoming yet another victim of the disregard political elites in Nepal have for regular citizens.
Only two days prior, reigning prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli and his cabinet had decided to ban 26 different social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Snapchat, X, LinkedIn and YouTube. The government officially reasoned that these channels did not comply with a new law regulating and taxating online activity. However, many citizens claim that this was a pretext to limit free speech, particularly that of the opposition and to hide nepotism.
Prior to this ban, social media platforms in Nepal constantly featured the political elite’s children showing off their lavish lifestyles, contrasting heavily with the precarious conditions in the rest of the country. The elite’s designer bags and paradisiac travel destinations justifiably angered a population of struggling, lower-class citizens.
This backdrops a dire situation in Nepal — living conditions decay and the young are left with no hope as a fifth of them are unemployed. Remittances sent from abroad account for 33 percent of Nepal’s GDP, but since social media bans were enacted, many lost contact with their families abroad.
All of this led to a massive outburst of violence, coordinated mostly through Discord servers, one of the only communication channels that remained available. On Sept. 8, 2025, thousands took to the streets, outraged by their country’s situation. Prime Minister Oli, under the pressure, resigned the day after, leaving the country in flames. The military began acting independently, bringing stability to some areas, but also encroaching on violent protesters. Overall, the conflict left 75 deaths and over 2000 injuries.
What is curious is that, even considering Gen Z’s consistent presence in countrywide protests, Nepal’s streets were especially filled with young, tired citizens. Young adults who are beginning professional and personal lives who felt wronged by their government, and took to the streets in an attempt to oust the corrupt.
Gen-Z’s role was so prominent, that after Oli’s resignation, the Discord server “Youth Against Corruption,” with over 10,000 members, conducted a debate and subsequent election. After hours of discussions, they decided on Sushila Karki, a past Supreme Court Chief Justice, to become the interim Prime Minister of the country.
This marks a historic first: the unconventional and informal platform Discord was successfully employed in a national election.
This has convinced many in the legal and tech communities that we are moving towards more transparent, digital and egalitarian solutions, which will give people in remote areas the same amount of access and opinion.
To others, however, the rise of social media as a platform for elections is worrisome, since opinion and voting can be easily swayed by one individual with multiple accounts, or by fake news being planted to generate misunderstandings.
Continuing the unconventional theme, the flag from One Piece, a Japanese anime about a group of pirates searching for a valuable treasure, has been seen being flown in several of the protest sites. Monkey D. Luffy and his crew of Straw Hat Pirates, who are the main characters of the famous show, prove a symbol of resistance and fighting the powerful to the youth in Nepal.
Despite certain skepticism, the accomplishments of the Nepalese Gen Z have inspired other communities around the globe to take to the streets and demand better living conditions. The Philippines, Morocco, Peru and Madagascar have all recently experienced majority youth masses disturbing the peace, with varying levels of violence. While in the North African nation they protest the government’s diverting of public funds towards the 2030 FIFA World Cup, in the western region of South America they protest new taxes, pensions and increasing gang violence.
The world is beginning to realize just how much Gen Z can impact government decisions. An angry youth can lead to violence upsetting the powerful, in service of a more democratic society. We are not to underestimate the power and brains of our generation.
As for Nepal, we are yet to see what the new elections — scheduled for March 5 — result in, and whether the life of Nepalese citizens changes for the better.
For the moment, however, history has been made.
Adán Mandelbaum is a sophomore in the School of International Service and a columnist for The Eagle.
This article was edited by Harry Walton, Addie DiPaolo and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Paige Caron and Nicole Kariuki. Fact-checking done by Andrew Kummeth.
