Sorrow and hope: Nepali people protest and pay tribute at Copenhagen’s City Hall and Nepal Embassy
More than 50 Nepali protestors died protesting against government corruption but topples the government last week
Flowers, candles and handwritten cardboard signs sit on the stairs of a public square in the centre of Copenhagen to commemorate more than 50 Nepali protesters who died protesting against the government in Nepal on Monday and Tuesday.
Hundreds of Nepalis living in Copenhagen gather at City Hall Square on Tuesday evening, says Jyotindra Thapa Ais, 29, a Nepali living in Copenhagen who attends the gathering.
From social media to government corruption
The protest, which starts against a social media ban in Nepal, escalates into a deadly conflict against prolonged government corruption, involving tens of thousands of mostly young people taking to the streets of Kathmandu.
More than 50 Nepali protesters, mainly students and young people, die in clashes with security forces and police, according to the BBC.
The Nepal Supreme Court, parliament and other major government buildings are set on fire. Houses belonging to government officials are raided by demonstrators.
The dissent creates a power vacuum in the Nepali government, as the prime minister, ministers and high-ranking members of political parties resign.
On Wednesday morning, 23 Nepalis gather again outside the Nepal Embassy to protest against the Nepali government's corruption and pay tribute to the dead protesters.
Bel Gurung, 50 from Nepal, who lives in Copenhagen, says he initiates the two events in Copenhagen on Tuesday morning after hearing requests from Nepalis in Copenhagen to raise their voices.
“No corruption, no violence, no injustice” are the key messages Gurung and other protesters spread, he says.
“When you speak a voice, the true voice, it doesn’t matter how loud or how small it is. It spreads all over the world to the right people, to the right country,” he says.
Sorrow turns into hope
Jyotindra says: “Today is just for the death of the students, and we are not focusing on other points like the ban of social media, because we think the death of the youngsters is more valuable than this other sort of problem.”
He adds that although lives are lost in Nepal, the changes in government are a step forward.
“Yesterday we are sad, but today we are happy,” he says.
Nepali plays a Nepali song Gaun Gaun Bata Utha, also known as the "Rise Up from Every Village" that promotes patriotic awareness among citizens outside the Nepal embassy on Sept. 10. Video: Chi Ngai Leung
This story is for an audience in Nepal and could be published onto the Himalayan Times.
