Young activists who toppled Nepal's government now picking new leaders

By Aftab Ahmed and Hritam Mukherjee

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A former DJ and his obscure Nepalese non-profit used a social media app popular with video gamers to drive massive protests and become the unlikely power brokers in installing the country's new interim leadership. 

Sudan Gurung, the 36-year-old founder of Hami Nepal (We are Nepal), used the Discord messaging app and Instagram to mobilise massive demonstrations that forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign, in the deadliest political crisis to hit the Himalayan nation in decades, a dozen people involved in the demonstrations said. 

The group used VPNs to access banned platforms and issued calls to action that reached tens of thousands of young people, they added. Representatives for Oli could not be contacted for comment.

"I was invited to join a group on Discord where there were about 400 members. It asked us to join the protest march a few kilometres from the parliament," 18-year-old student Karan Kulung Rai, who is not part of the group, told Reuters. 

Hami Nepal's early social media posts on Discord became so influential that they were referenced on national television. 

As protests grew violent, the group also identified messages it termed "fake news" and shared hospital phone numbers. 

Hami Nepal members, who asked not to be identified as they had used proxy names online for security reasons, said Gurung and the group's other leaders have since become central to high-stakes decisions, including the appointment of the new interim leadership till elections are held on March 5.

They have already convinced the country's president and army chief to appoint former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, known for her tough stance against corruption, as Nepal's first woman prime minister in an interim capacity, three members of the group said.

"I will make sure that the power lies with the people and bring every corrupt politician to justice," Gurung said in his first press conference since the protest on Thursday.

On Sunday, Gurung and his team were in meetings to decide key cabinet positions and were proposing that some government officials appointed by the previous administration be removed, members of Hami Nepal said. 

"Meetings are ongoing between Karki and members of the group. We will finalise the cabinet soon," one of the members said. Gurung and Karki did not immediately respond to questions sent to their mobile phones. 

The "process is being carefully carried out, so that it consists of skilled and capable youth," Hami Nepal said on Instagram.

FROM DJ TO REVOLUTIONARY

Monday's protest by young adults loosely categorised as a "Gen Z" movement, as most participants were in their 20s, turned deadly within hours and rapidly brought down the government. 

The protests were directed at perceived government corruption and took off following a ban on multiple social media platforms - a directive that was reversed. Protesters clashed with authorities on the streets, leaving at least 72 dead and over 1,300 injured. 

Gurung, who is older than the Gen Z age bracket, and his team have vowed not to take up any cabinet positions but want to be part of the future decision-making. 

"We don't want to be politicians. Sudan Gurung was only helping the 'Gen Z' group and we are only the voice of the nation and not interested in taking leadership positions," said Ronesh Pradhan, a 26-year-old volunteer for the group. 

Gurung, who was a DJ before he founded Hami Nepal, organised civic relief when the worst earthquake in Nepal's history killed over 9,000 people in 2015, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Team members running the Instagram account, whose followers have swelled to over 160,000, and Discord posts alongside Gurung include 24-year-old cafe owner Ojaswi Raj Thapa and law graduate Rehan Raj Dangal.

Thapa, who quickly emerged as a vocal protest movement leader, told Reuters in an interview that the judiciary was not independent and ensuring its freedom was a key priority once the interim government was put in place. 

"We may need some changes to the constitution but we don't want to dissolve the constitution," he said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed in Kathmandu; Editing by Saad Sayeed)