Video: Nepal’s Finance Minister hunted down in Kathmandu as Gen Z uprising spreads

The protests, which erupted on Monday over a government ban on social media platforms and long-simmering anger over corruption, have only intensified despite the authorities reversing the ban.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | September 9, 2025 09:36 PM IST

2 min read

Nepal Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel being chased through streets and attacked (Screengrab)

The Gen Z-led protests sweeping Nepal have taken a dramatic and violent turn. K P Sharma Oli’s residence was set ablaze after he stepped down as prime minister while his deputy and country’s Finance Minister, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, was filmed being chased through the streets of Kathmandu by furious demonstrators.

The protests, which erupted on Monday over a government ban on social media platforms and long-simmering anger over corruption, have only intensified despite the authorities reversing the ban.

In one viral video, the 65-year-old Paudel is seen sprinting down a Kathmandu street as a crowd pursues him. A young protester rushes in from the opposite direction, leaping to kick the minister and sending him crashing into a red wall. Paudel quickly regains his footing and continues running as the footage abruptly cuts off.

Paudel is vice chairman of CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist), the party of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, who resigned earlier in the day.

Oli, who began his fourth term last year after his Communist Party forged a coalition with the Nepali Congress—resigned under mounting pressure from the youth-led movement. His resignation came a day after one of the deadliest crackdowns in years, which left at least 19 people dead and hundreds injured. Three other ministers had already stepped down amid the unrest.

The government’s decision last week to block 26 social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and X triggered the uprising. TikTok, which remained accessible, has since been flooded with viral videos contrasting the hardships of ordinary Nepalis with the children of politicians flaunting luxury lifestyles and vacations abroad, fuelling the anger further.

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