The ravage from the “Gen Z uprising” on Tuesday hit the private business sector hard. As the ashes are swept away, the full scale of the destruction is coming to light. The losses are estimated to run into the hundreds of billion rupees, and post-riot effects on the investment climate are likely to have further economic consequences. As losses are still being counted, local businesses and professional associations were organising a rally today in Bhairahawa to call attention to it.
Meanwhile, after seeing the destruction up close, “Gen Z leaders” are distancing themselves from what took place on Tuesday when most of the arson and looting took place. Hami Nepal, a leading organiser of the initial demonstrations on Monday, state on social media:“Let it be absolutely clear: this is not Gen Z. This is not our movement. We do not promote it, and we will never stand with it. Looting is a crime, no different from the corruption of the officials we are fighting against.”
Calling attention to the losses in the private sector: business owners and professionals at a rally in Bhairahawa today.
Business owners who saw their property being looted and set ablaze recall events that support the Gen Z claims. If Gen Z stands for “peaceful protest”, what they witnessed was something entirely different. It was not just demonstrators “losing it” but orchestrated and premeditated vandalism. Business owners and security agencies report that groups of protesters carried petrol, gas cylinders, matches, and lighters, looting properties before systematically setting them ablaze.
Many said the uniform method of attack suggested coordination by an organised group. (BizznessNews.com, September 11, 2025.)
The attack on Bhatbhateni Supermarket illustrates the systematic nature of the selection of targets as well. The main store and fourteen outlets in Kathmandu Valley were looted and burned to the ground, and the branches in Biratnagar, Dharan, Damak, Birtamod, Pokhara, Hetauda, and Bharatpur were also badly damaged and looted. Like Binod Chaudhary, whose mansion and major businesses in Kathmandu were torched and looted, also many local business owners lost property.
What is left of the Bhatbhateni Supermarket in Kathmandu with altogether 12 branches in a similar condition.
It’s too early to make a complete status. However, it’s clear that the upper-levels of the private sector have suffered a similar scale of destruction as government legislative and executive office buildings, court houses, police stations, media houses, and the homes of political leaders. From Biratnagar and Hetauda to Rupendehi, Chitwan, and Pokhara, the targeting of these types of infrastructure followed a pattern. In this light, some business owners wonder who organised it.
While peacefully gathering in Bhairahawa for a rally, also for mutual moral support, local business owners and business associations urge political leaders to bring calm to the country. The scale of the material damage to local businesses around the country is still only surfacing but is unprecedented. An article in BizznessNews.com gives a list of major businesses hit and an impression of the scale of the destruction and the choice of targets – in Kathmandu Valley and locally:
Upendra Mahato: Residence at Bhatbhateni looted and torched.
Shekhar Golchha: Sitapaila residence partially burned; 4–5 vehicles destroyed.
Hilton Hotel (Shanker Group investment): Five-star property in Naxal gutted.
Kantipur Media Group: Central Business Park in Thapathali torched; newsroom destroyed.
Global IME Bank: Thapathali branch damaged.
Kantipur Complex, Tinkune: Fire damage to television unit and building.
Simrik Air: Headquarters in Tinkune set on fire.
The Hilton Hotel in Kathmandu: one of several hotels set ablaze in the riots.
Annapurna Post: Corporate tower in Gairigaun torched; publisher Rameshwar Thapa’s Kavre residence and helicopter destroyed.
Pawan Golyan: Golyan Tower in Baneshwor vandalized and partially damaged.
Rajendra Bajgain (Congress MP): Varunabas Hotel in Baluwatar set ablaze.
Marwari Sewa Samiti Tower, Battisputali: Fire destroyed Himalayan Bank, Himalayan Java Coffee, and multiple offices.
Chandra Dhakal Group: Base stations of Chandragiri and Maulakali cable cars torched.
Global College of Management, Old Baneshwor: Vandalized and burned.
Pokhara: Sarowar Hotel, Bagaincha Resort, and investor Bindu Kumar Thapa’s residence gutted.
Hyatt Hotel: Extensively vandalized by mobs.
The remains of a car dealership – leaving the number of torched cars in the streets uncounted.
Ncell: Headquarters attacked and set on fire.
Rastriya Banijya Bank: Baneshwor branch vandalized.
Bhatbhateni stores looted and completely burned down: Naxal, Maharajgunj, Boudha, Koteshwor, Baluwatar, Pokhara, Chitwan, Hetauda, Birtamod, Damak, Biratnagar, and Dharan.
Branches vandalised and looted: Kalanki, Thimi, Balaju, Janakpur, Butwal, Birgunj, Dhangadhi, Itahari, and Bhairahawa.
In conclusion, all of this destruction and in all likelihood more to surface was accomplished in just 24 hours – give and take. Yet, what matters now to many people in Nepal is not to see a full account but to move on. Many call for an interim government to form at the earliest and plot a course forward, regardless of “who did it”. Compensation is being debated. Yet, at a time of dramatic interruption of political practice, most above all hope to see a political process get safely on track.
Extra:
The case of the hotel industry at a glance – a potentially dramatic hit to the country’s economy:
- Nearly two dozen hotels were hit located in Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Jhapa, Biratnagar, Dhangadhi, Mahottari and Dang-Tulsipur.
- The hotel industry reports an estimated loss of 25 billion Nrs. total.
- The hotels will only resume operations after reconstruction or major renovation which can take months or years.
- Meanwhile, they will be unable to accept guests.
- Without guests, they will be unable to make income and service bank debts.
- Over 2000 workers will have to be placed on leave or laid off.
- The tourism industry, of which hotels make up a large part, contribute 7 pct. of GDP.
- It is also a major earner of foreign exchange.
- The Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) raises demands for an investigation and compensation and relief packages.
Update
Insurance claims as a result of the uprising are expected to exceed 10 billion Nrs. (USD 75 million) and even to surpass the claims after the 2015 earthquake.
