Gen Z protest victims cremated with state honours in Kathmandu

Funerals of several victims of the recent Gen Z protests were performed on Tuesday at Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu with state honours, even as the country, still shaken by the violence, has begun the slow process of returning to normalcy. Some of the bodies were taken to various districts for cremation, allowing grieving families to mourn in their home towns.

Four bodies were brought to Pashupatinath, on the banks of the Bagmati river, where thousands gathered to pay their last respects. “We wanted to give them the honour they deserve,” an official at the Pashupati temple said. The procession began at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, where the postmortems had been conducted, before winding its way to the sacred cremation grounds.

Energy and physical infrastructure minister Kulman Ghising and home minister Om Prakash Aryal joined families at the rites, underscoring the state’s acknowledgement of the heavy toll. Six other bodies were transported to districts outside Kathmandu for cremation, while relatives of those who had died earlier collected their loved ones’ remains on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday, interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki had announced that all those killed during the protests of 8 and 9 September would be declared “martyrs”. The government has also promised NRs 1.5 million (approx. INR 9.4 lakh) in compensation to each family, along with a nationwide public holiday on Wednesday to mourn their loss. Flags across the country are to fly at half-mast.

In total, 72 people were killed in the unrest, including three policemen and ten prisoners, during the clashes that culminated in the fall of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s government.

Even amid the grief, life in Kathmandu is slowly resuming its rhythm. Streets that had been deserted during curfews are once again filling with buses and motorbikes, while small shops have reopened, selling vegetables, tea, and mobile recharge cards to long lines of customers.

Children, kept home for safety during the worst of the violence, are tentatively returning to school. “The wounds are fresh, but people have to get back to their routines,” said a shopkeeper in Baneshwar, sweeping debris off his storefront.

Government ministries, too, have begun turning from crisis management to recovery. Officials are now assessing the damage inflicted during the protests. According to My Republica, the ministry of physical infrastructure and transport (MoPIT) has formed a nine-member committee to document losses at its offices nationwide. The MoPIT building itself sustained minor damage, but the main office of the department of roads (DoR) at Babarmal — rebuilt just two years ago for NRs 15 million (approx. INR 94 lakh) — was badly hit, with vehicles set ablaze.

Despite this, roadworks across the country have not been halted. “Damage and destruction have not halted our work anywhere. Road construction and maintenance continue,” a DoR employee was quoted as saying.

The tension of the past week lingers, but Kathmandu is beginning to breathe again. The sight of funerals with state honours has brought both sorrow and a measure of closure, while the hum of markets and the clatter of construction sites hint at a resilience that many Nepalis say will carry the country forward.

With PTI inputs