On 23 Bhadra, 19-year-old Shreyam (Shriram) Chaulagain lost his life after being shot by police in New Baneshwor. A Grade 12 management student, he fell to the ground in his college uniform, covered in blood.
He was one of many students who died during the Gen-Z protests, which demanded an end to corruption and the lifting of social-media restrictions. Despite the deaths of several students, student unions—who claim to stand for student rights—remained largely silent.
Out of those killed in the protests, 45 individuals have been declared martyrs. Ordinary Nepalis strongly identified with the Gen-Z movement, but the student unions were seen as indifferent. While the public noted that ordinary students had taken to the streets to raise issues ignored by unions, the unions instead focused on filing complaints and opposing protesters.
A month after the protests, the UML-aligned student union ANNFSU filed a police complaint against Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and Sudhan Gurung. The Nepali Congress–aligned Nepal Students’ Union (NSU) followed with a similar complaint, demanding their arrest within 24 hours—despite not protesting the deaths of 76 individuals during the violence.
Sudhan Gurung accused the unions of siding with politicians who ordered police to open fire. “When peaceful protesters seeking good governance were shot, where were the student unions?” he wrote on Facebook.
Former ANNFSU president Sujan Karki resigned amid controversy, saying he could not stay in office while students were dying.
Critics say the relevance of party-affiliated unions had already been questioned during the COVID-19 pandemic when students faced severe educational disruption but unions did nothing.
Within ANNFSU, leadership transitioned to Deepak Dhami, who later inducted Gen-Z representatives to appear aligned with the movement—even as the UML leadership and union leaders publicly labeled protesters as anarchists, criminals, and even “traitors.”
Former Tribhuvan University vice-chancellor Kedar Bhakta Mathema argues that the Gen-Z uprising is the result of student unions’ failure to rise above party interests. “When unions stopped advocating for real student issues, youth took to the streets on their own,” he said. Mathema believes the time has come for a new, independent, academic student council.
Sociologist Dr. Dipesh Ghimire agrees, saying party-affiliated unions have long prioritized party agendas over student rights, losing their relevance. He notes that Gen-Z protesters—unaffiliated, flagless, and independent—proved that political student wings have stifled students’ independent perspectives and courage.
Even before the Gen-Z movement, the legitimacy of student unions had been questioned, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, when they remained silent as students’ education suffered.
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