young hands/old chains: A Generational coup
Kathmandu, Nepal — September 2025
In September 2025, thousands of young Nepalis took to the streets demanding the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli after he dissolved parliament and assumed near-total executive power. What began as student-led protests escalated into a nationwide uprising—tear gas in the capital, police stations overrun, a generation refusing to inherit the political cynicism of their parents.
I was in Kathmandu for two days during the height of it. Not enough time to understand everything. Enough time to witness something I won't forget: journalists carrying injured police officers to safety. Protesters sharing water with the same riot squads who'd been firing on them hours earlier. A country tearing itself apart and holding itself together simultaneously.
These images don't explain Nepal's political crisis. They document something harder to articulate—the strange grace that emerges when ordinary people decide they've had enough. The moment when the line between documenter and participant dissolves.
Exhibited at Kathmandu Photo Festival 2025, as part of ‘GEN Z POWER’—a collaborative showcase of 28 photographers curated by Nepal Point.
Journalists help carry an injured police officer.
A protester confronts police officers near the Parliament.
Police retreat under a barrage of stones.
![[Act I: Assembly]. Protesters shout at the Parliament gates.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6630c6332b41707e90a25228/ec2ac442-6a02-40dc-b249-7c5fbb18b8f8/protesters-kathmandu-protest.jpg)
[Act I: Assembly]. Protesters shout at the Parliament gates.
The Nepali flag stands tall amid the collisions.
A protester in Kathmandu displays a police shield.
A protester hurling a stone.
A rubber bullet is fired and retrieved by a protester.
A police officer whistles while advancing, rifle in hand.
A police officer signals the charge as officers on the right fire toward protesters.
A mural sets the stage for the revolt.
A lost photo stand near to a bloodstain on the street.
Police shields form a barrier at Baneshwor.
View of the protest from behind police lines.
Oceanic crowds fill Baneshwor.
A protester intervenes as tensions flare between angry demonstrators and police.
Protesters ignite fires across the streets.
Protesters vandalize and storm the RBB Bank.
Police units resting in Durbar Square.
A police officer peers through a gate opening.
A female officer smiles while texting in her smoke-blackened, doorless station.
A protester raises the Nepali flag against a backdrop of fires
A protester celebrates on a scooter following the election of the new prime minister.