Rapper-Turned-PM Balen Shah Faces Youth Backlash After Ride-Share Driver's Tragic Death

Following the collapse of the government due to youth protests in Nepal last year, Balendra (Balen) Shah assumed office as the country's Prime Minister. It was widely noted that the former rapper became prime minister carrying the mandate of the younger generation.

However, just months after Shah took office, that very same youth generation has returned to the streets in protest against his government. The public outrage was reignited last week by the self-immolation of a 25-year-old ride-sharing driver in Kathmandu following police harassment.

According to a report by the local media outlet The Kathmandu Post, a rider named Ganesh Nepali was waiting for a customer on a Kathmandu street last Thursday when police abruptly locked his motorcycle's wheel.

Witnesses said that out of anger at the incident, Ganesh poured petrol on his body and set himself on fire. He passed away the following day while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

In the wake of this tragic death, hundreds of people protested on Sunday in front of the Singha Durbar secretariat, Kathmandu's main administrative hub. Demonstrators carried placards reading 'Stop Oppressing the Poor' and 'Respect Human Rights.' The protesters demanded an immediate end to illegal arrests and requested the rehabilitation of landless slum dwellers targeted by the government's eviction drives.

Since being elected Mayor of Kathmandu in 2022 before becoming Prime Minister, Balen Shah has maintained a zero-tolerance policy on clearing pavements and evicting slums, a stance that continued after his premiership. These drives, including the clearance of riverbank slums, have turned violent in many instances. The administration's unsympathetic attitude toward the city's marginalized and poor residents is the primary driver of anger among Nepali youth.

Experts point out that the local administration and municipal police are constantly overstepping their constitutional boundaries. Instead of acting as a general regulatory body, they have transformed into a force that mimics the unethical tactics of the national police force. Raju Chapagain, a senior local advocate, stated that the legal framework does not grant municipal police the authority to use physical force or suppress clashes. Their role is to assist the municipality through dialogue and community engagement. While traffic-related issues fall under the jurisdiction of the traffic police, municipal officials are routinely chasing hawkers and harassing citizens, which is completely illegal.

By law, the primary responsibility of the municipal police is to protect public property and oversee cleanliness. There is no legal basis for them to use batons or detain citizens. Despite this, under the Shah administration, videos of municipal police violence continue to circulate on social media, leaving the government facing intense accountability demands from the youth generation.