Today, the streets of Kathmandu felt worlds apart from just 12 hours before.
Gone were the thousands of protestors rejoicing as they saw the symbols of Nepal’s political class in flames. Gone were the cries of “revolution”.
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The roads were quiet, a silence punctuated only by the sound of military vehicles passing.
The army, who were strikingly absent yesterday as politicians and government buildings came under attack, were back out in force – guarding those institutions and enforcing a curfew.
They vowed to bring things under control and there was at least a sense of calm.
But inside parliament, we saw the stark aftermath of protests that almost wiped out the ruling elite. The building was full of mangled metal, charred filing cabinets and shattered glass. The air was still thick with smoke.
Looking around at the destruction, I wondered if it would hurt or further Gen Z’s cause. They made their leadership look exposed and unseated. It’s too early to see if this is a moment for democratic renewal or the start of democracy unravelling.
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Outside, some young campaigners have turned up to clear away the mess, lamenting what had so suddenly unfolded.
Rubina Shrestha, 26, has come with her four relatives to help. She looks forlorn and frustrated.
“It’s very sad to see our country like this, because this is not what we hoped for, not what we imagined, not what we wanted,” she says.
“We just wanted a peaceful protest but everything turned into violence, everything turned into negativity.”
Umesh Shah, 30, is sweeping the floor, his hands full of ash, sweating in the sun and looking reflective.
“We felt so bad, we were crying all night – everywhere totally collapsed,” he says, rattling off a long list of the institutions of power that the protesters had targeted.
But the rage that sparked this moment still burns deep in Nepal. It is fuelled by a young generation that believes its leadership is corrupt, self-serving and nepotistic – lining their own families’ pockets while leaving the rest of the country in the dust.
They want to see real meaningful change, and they’ve created a political vacuum they believe they can fill.
There are some signs of dialogue: the army’s Chief of Staff has invited Gen Z leaders for talks.
It’s unclear what might emerge from them but there will have to be concessions, some shifts in the power players at the top and the way they lead, to placate the many young people who took to the streets and could well do so again.
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It does feel quieter in Kathmandu, perhaps a sign that some stability has been restored. But many people are also taking the time to work out what to do next.
The unrest has unsettled the country, and its consequences are still playing out. At Dillibazar prison we watched as hundreds of prisoners who tried to escape during the protests were piled onto vans and taken to another jail.
They’d set alight to the building and tried to make a run for it. One man told us that other inmates had escaped from other prisons, so why shouldn’t they?
This was more than a fleeting episode in Nepal’s political history. It has shown the power of the youth here. Quite what that power translates into, though, remains very unclear.
