KATHMANDU: In an extraordinary twist to Nepal’s political crisis, a former DJ and his little-known non-profit have emerged as the unlikely power brokers behind the ouster of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and the appointment of the country’s first woman interim prime minister.
Sudan Gurung, 36, founder of the civic group Hami Nepal (“We are Nepal”), harnessed Discord a messaging app popular with video gamers and Instagram to mobilize tens of thousands of young protesters after the government banned social media platforms.
The protests quickly escalated into the deadliest political unrest the Himalayan nation has witnessed in decades, with at least 72 dead and more than 1,300 injured, according to a dozen people directly involved.
Young protesters used VPNs to bypass the ban, joining online groups that issued real-time calls to action. “I was invited to join a group on Discord with about 400 members. It asked us to march near parliament,” said 18-year-old student Karan Kulung Rai, who was not a formal member of Hami Nepal, in remarks to WNN.
The group’s posts were so influential they were picked up by national television. Hami Nepal simultaneously flagged “fake news” circulating online and shared emergency hospital numbers, further boosting its credibility among demonstrators.
In the aftermath of Oli’s resignation, Gurung and his team quickly moved from activists to kingmakers. Group members confirmed to WNN that they had persuaded Nepal’s president and army chief to appoint former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, renowned for her uncompromising stance on corruption, as the country’s interim leader until elections on March 5, 2026.
“We will make sure power remains with the people and every corrupt politician is brought to justice,” Gurung vowed at his first press conference following the protests.
Meetings between Hami Nepal and Karki are now focused on shaping the interim cabinet. “The process is being carefully carried out so that it consists of skilled and capable youth,” the group said in an Instagram post.
Despite their pivotal role, Gurung and his colleagues insist they do not seek cabinet positions. “We don’t want to be politicians. Sudan Gurung was only helping the Gen Z group. We are the voice of the nation, not interested in power,” said Ronesh Pradhan, 26, a volunteer.
Gurung’s civic activism dates back to the 2015 earthquake, when he organized relief efforts that reached thousands, and later during the COVID-19 pandemic. His collaborators in Hami Nepal include 24-year-old café owner Ojaswi Raj Thapa and law graduate Rehan Raj Dangal, who jointly manage the group’s swelling Instagram account, now with over 160,000 followers and its Discord channels.
Thapa, who has become a prominent voice of the movement, told WNN that reforming Nepal’s judiciary would be a top priority for the interim administration. “The judiciary is not independent. Ensuring its freedom is crucial. We may need constitutional amendments, but we do not want to dissolve the constitution,” he said.
What began as an online youth rebellion against censorship has now transformed into a political experiment unprecedented in Nepal’s modern history, a grassroots, digitally driven uprising that toppled a government and put an activist-led coalition at the heart of state power.
• ⁃ Prema Khandu
WATCH, LIKE and SUBSCRIBE IT”S CHANNEL FOR EXCLUSIVE NEWS and TALKS
