North Texas Nepali community mourns 19 killed amid Gen Z anti-corruption protest
As the sun was setting, hundreds of North Texans — many clad in black — gathered with candles and posters in their hands and solidarity in their hearts.
The vigil was hosted at the Nepali Cultural and Spiritual Center, at 1212 Royal Parkway in Euless, on Monday night to honor the lives lost during an anti-corruption protest in Nepal. Hundreds were injured and 19 people were killed when police opened fire during the “Gen Z” protests on Sept. 8 in Kathmandu and Itahari.
North Texas Nepali community gathers in Euless
“I woke up about 8 a.m. this morning and scrolled through Instagram and saw a video of a kid with a backpack — he was shot in his head and bleeding,” 19-year-old Anup Paudel, who lives in Irving, said in Nepali.
“At first I could not process what I saw. I am getting goosebumps as I am talking about it right now,” he said.
Paudel said he joined Monday evening’s vigil because “as a Nepali we need to unite against the (corrupt) system.”
In a foreign land, coming together with the Dallas-Fort Worth Nepali community made him feel a little more secure, Paudel said.
Grishma Neupane, a recent graduate of Haltom City High School, said she walked in to the gathering thinking not a lot of people would show up. “I was wrong — seeing this makes me feel, despite living abroad, this is what love for Nepal looks like,” Neupane said.
“I recently came from Nepal after three weeks, where I saw lots of youth were so happy to leave the country. And that’s making me very sad,” she said.
Neupane said that even if Nepali citizens are abroad, they want people to hear them and see that they are doing something for their country and their people.
“Never in the history of protests have so many young people under 20 been killed in less than six hours,” Shreeju Magaju, 23, a recent graduate of the University of North Texas, said in Nepali.
“We were promised a democracy and a safe government; Nepal police were supposed to protect us, but students in school uniforms were killed,” Magaju said. “I haven’t slept since yesterday, I took a 30-minute power nap to come to this vigil.”
The fact that a lot of people from the community gathered for the vigil on very short notice shows the frustration among Nepali people, she said.
“I feel really glad that at least humanity still exists and Nepalese believe that what needs to happen needs to happen, and we believe that we can still make it right,” she said.
Magaju said the call to action after the vigil would be to reach out to international media, and as someone living abroad, she sees the dollar as “a powerful way to financially support those in need.”
“Even if we are not in Nepal, we need to support this movement as a representative of the Gen Zs,” Shree Krishna Bhetwal, 28, youth coordinator at the Nepali Spiritual and Cultural Center, said in Nepali.
“I cannot imagine or explain what I felt while watching the news, “ Bhetwal said with teary eyes.
Bhetwal said that the Nepali community in the DFW area is very strong and they came together to support the vigil because of the anger they have after everything transpired.
What happened at the Gen Z protests in Nepal
During the “Gen Z” protests on Sept. 8, thousands of young people — including some in school uniforms — filled Kathmandu and other cities across Nepal to protest against years of corruption and the lack of opportunities for youth.
The protests also came after the Nepali government banned dozens of social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, after the companies failed to comply with new registration requirements on Sept. 4. The ban has been lifted.
In less than six hours, the protest turned violent when police used water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets and then gunfire, killing at least 19 people including children and injuring hundreds of others.
Despite a curfew announced by authorities, anger erupted as the death toll rose. On Monday, Nepali protesters set fire to several buildings, including the Parliament House. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli handed his resignation on Tuesday.
All flights from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport scheduled for Tuesday were canceled.