I covered Nepal Gen Z revolt, India's NEET protests. Here's the difference

As a reporter, I have covered countless protests over the years. But two movements from the past year have stayed with me. The first was Nepal's Gen Z-led uprising, which I reported from Kathmandu and Birgunj. The second was India's student movement over the NEET paper leak, which I covered from Patna.Both were powered largely by young people. Both challenged those in authority. Yet beyond those similarities, they unfolded in remarkably different ways.In Nepal, the protests were fuelled by anger over corruption, poor governance, political instability and growing frustration with the political establishment. Demonstrators demanded the resignation of then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and sweeping political change.In India, the movement began over irregularities in the NEET examination. Students demanded action against the paper leak, the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and accountability for police action against protesters. When I arrived in Kathmandu, the city was already on edge. Columns of smoke rose from different parts of the capital. Burnt vehicles littered the roads. Security forces raced from one flashpoint to another as fresh violence erupted across the city.I saw attacks on public property unfold before my eyes. Parts of Parliament, the Supreme Court and Singh Durbar were damaged. Government offices, telephone exchanges and municipal buildings were set ablaze. Houses linked to political leaders were attacked. The Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar, the President's residence at Shital Niwas, the anti-corruption commission and offices of major political parties also came under attack. There was barely a moment to pause. By the time one incident subsided, another had broken out elsewhere.Later, I travelled to Birgunj near the India-Nepal border.Roads were barricaded. Security personnel were deployed across the city. Many shops remained shuttered as curfews came into force in several areas. Internet restrictions made reporting difficult, while the unrest disrupted operations at Tribhuvan International Airport.Months later, I found myself on another protest beat, this time in Patna.Large crowds filled the streets. I witnessed clashes between protesters and police, with stone-pelting, lathi charges and tear gas. Both students and police personnel suffered injuries.Yet throughout my reporting in Patna, I kept thinking back to Nepal. The most striking difference was the scale of violence.In Nepal, I witnessed widespread arson, attacks on government institutions and extensive destruction of public property across the country.In Patna, I saw no comparable level of devastation. The confrontations were largely confined to clashes between protesters and police. There was stone-pelting, lathi charges and tear gas, but I did not witness government buildings being torched or public infrastructure destroyed on the scale I had seen in Nepal.The two movements also differed sharply in the way they communicated.In Nepal, the protests were driven primarily by mobilisation on the ground. Internet restrictions during the height of the unrest made online communication difficult, forcing organisers to rely largely on physical networks.In India, social media became the movement's most powerful amplifier.Except for temporary internet restrictions around Jantar Mantar in Delhi, I did not encounter internet shutdowns that significantly affected reporting in Patna. Instagram, X, Facebook and WhatsApp were used extensively to organise demonstrations, livestream events and circulate videos within minutes.The contrast was impossible to miss.My memories of Nepal are filled with smoke, burning buildings, damaged public property and heavy security restrictions.In Patna, social media evolved into a parallel protest site.Creative banners, posters and memes spread rapidly online. I watched protesters record Instagram reels, take selfies beside police barricades and even exchange jokes with officers. Some asked policemen whether enough tear gas shells had been arranged for the day. When water cannons were deployed, a few demonstrators danced in the spray while others filmed videos on their phones.Those were scenes I never encountered during Nepal's protests.The geography of the two movements also differed. In Kathmandu, violence shifted constantly from one neighbourhood to another, forcing reporters to move across the city in pursuit of the next flashpoint.In Patna, the confrontations remained concentrated around Gandhi Maidan, Dak Bungalow roundabout, Circular Road, the high-security zone surrounding the Bihar Chief Minister's residence and nearby government offices.The political outcomes also took different paths. In Nepal, sustained public pressure eventually brought down the government. In India, the protests kept sustained pressure on the government over the NEET paper leak and police action, eventually culminating in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Having reported from both countries, I found it remarkable that two youth-led movements produced significant political consequences through entirely different trajectories.Nepal's protests were marked by widespread violence, large-scale destruction of public property, curfews and severe disruption to everyday life.India's movement was defined by sustained demonstrations, clashes with police and the unprecedented role of social media, while remaining largely confined to designated protest sites without the scale of destruction I had witnessed across Nepal.I stood on the streets of Kathmandu. I reported from Birgunj. I walked through the protests in Patna. The faces in the crowds looked familiar. The anger felt equally real. But the stories those streets told could not have been more different.- EndsPublished On: Jul 26, 2026 14:54 IST