Nepal and the erosion of its social contract

Two months into the interim government’s tenure, and the explicit turmoil of the Gen-Z protests has largely quietened down. There still, however, remains a level of distrust ; the ‘calm’ we see now feels less like peace and more like a pause in a long and unfinished conversation between the people and the government. The protests, though short-lived, exposed more than just anger at leaders : they reflected exhaustion and a perception that the political class no longer listens.This uncertainty raises questions as to the nature of the citizen-state relationship: has Nepal’s social contract been renewed, or merely suspended in its erosion? Were the protests an interruption of the social contract or evidence of its fragility?