A small group of Nepali students organized and held a candlelight vigil on Sept. 9 for protestors who lost their lives during the Nepalese Gen Z Protests that began the day prior. Some Nepalese Student Association cabinet members were present at the vigil. 

The protests were sparked by a government ban on social media platforms but were fueled by resentment toward corruption by the political elite and a lack of economic opportunities for regular Nepali citizens. This set of protests is led largely by the youth of the country, causing it to be dubbed the Gen Z protests by many. 

“It wasn’t because of the social media ban that people came out to the streets and protested,” Aakankshya Adhikari, the vice president of NepSA said. “It was because people called out for corruption and the government tried to shut our voice down … what they actually wanted to do was suppress everything that people were saying against them, so it just turned into a lot of turmoil.”

Students gathered outside the Grace Memorial Chapel on campus with candles and signs to honor the protestors in Nepal who died, most of whom were children and young adults under the age of 28. 

“This evening was for them, the departed souls, and there are a lot of people struggling in the hospital,” Adhikari said.

At the vigil, Sarjan Tiwari, the advisor for NepSA, stressed the need for students to support each other and be there for each other in turbulent times. 

“The best thing we can do right now is have a community, like a family, and then support each other and then pray for the lost ones,” Tiwari said. 

Some students have families that remain in Nepal, and the social media bans made it harder for families to communicate, but even with the lifted ban, some are still having a difficult time. 

“It was very scary,” Adhikari said. “We all know we can use VPNs and everything, but our parents are old … (they) don’t even know how to navigate through VPN and we couldn’t contact them. 

“We are hearing all sorts of news that these things are happening in Nepal, and we don’t know how our parents are …  we never know who died.” 

Deepan Dulal, a senior studying computer engineering, said that while he supported the protests as they started, seeing the footage of the protests and deaths “traumatized” him, and the response after the shootings was disappointing and not the right answer. 

“Young people started dying in the protest … after seeing the footage and stuff, it really traumatized me … You should never respond to violence with violence. It’s really a mess,” Deepan Dulal, a senior studying computer engineering said. “I’m really worried about my country. I don’t see what we can do in the future to recover from this.”

Attendees had mixed feelings regarding the prime minister’s resignation earlier that morning, feeling like it is a big deal that he resigned while also feeling it didn’t make up for all that happened. Adhikari believes that the protests began as a lack of accountability on the government’s side, and protestors felt they had no other choice.. 

“Since I was a kid, till now, it’s been the same three people running the country, and he resigns, he comes back,” Dulal said. “It’s a small win, but it’s not big enough to justify the murders that have happened.” 

Attendees of the vigil expressed a similar grief of being separated from their families and loved ones, but stressed the importance of having a community to lean on, especially after a tragedy.

“It’s a moment of grief … I have my friends around me to share my pain with … my family is safe, but a lot of bad things are happening in Nepal,” Dulal said. 

“For my friends and family and every Nepali back home, and even here: though far, we are all in this together … let them know that we all stand in this together,” Adhikari said. 

Editor’s Note: Garima Thapa, a Sunflower photographer, had a large role in organizing the vigil. The Sunflower avoids conflicts of interest involving its staff members but must balance that with covering events that are important to the campus community. Thapa had no role in reporting on or photographing this event.