'Selfish games of political parties': Nepal student's viral old speech resurfaces amid deadly unrest - watch

A Nepali student’s March speech slamming “selfish” political parties for corruption and unemployment is going viral again amid the deadly unrest that forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s resignation.

The student, head boy of Holy Bell English Secondary School, says in the video: “Today, I stand here with the dream of building a new Nepal. The fire of hope and passion burns within me, but my heart is heavy because this dream seems to be slipping away.”"I put myself before you this moment to shed light within your consciousness by piercing the dark nimbus that circles above you. I am present here today to immortalise a monumental change in the course of history," he added.

The boy continued: “Nepal, our mother, the country that gave us birth and nurtured us—what did it ask for in return? Just our honesty, our hard work, our contribution. But what are we doing? We are bound by the chains of unemployment... We are trapped by the selfish games of political parties. Corruption has woven a web that is extinguishing the light of our future.”Describing the youth of Nepal as “torchbearers of change”, he called on them to “rise” to raise their voices, asking, “If we don’t raise our voice, who will?”“We are the fire that will burn away the darkness, the storm that will sweep away injustice.

Our ancestors shed their blood to give us this nation. We cannot sell it, we cannot lose it. We are the fire that will burn every despair,” he said.

The youth-led “Gen Z protests” were sparked by the Oli government’s ban on 26 social media sites, but quickly swelled into a wider movement against corruption, nepotism and unemployment.Security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Kathmandu on Monday, killing at least 19 people, most of them students. Although the social media ban was revoked, the outrage over the deaths triggered a wave of ministerial resignations, with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli stepping down on Tuesday, the second day of the unrest.An aide to President Ram Chandra Poudel said Oli’s resignation has been accepted, and the process of appointing a new leader is now underway.