Activists Around the World: Rakshya Bam

Gen Z Nepali activist and advocate Rakshya Bam has already made history and helped push for regime change in Nepal.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
And Samantha.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
And welcome to Stuff Mom Never Told You, a production
of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
And welcome to another activist around the world. And we
are talking about the activism and advocacy of Nepali Gen Zer,
Raksha Bham.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
So Bham has become actually a historical figure already.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Like she's already made history within the country of Nepal already. honestly,
around the world. She has become a leader in the
Gen Z movement that has made some amazing changes, some
slow changes, and some big impacts within Nepal. So before
we talk about the movement, let's talk about who she is.
Bom grew up in a middle-class family and has talked

(00:51):
about the fact that she had a bit more privilege
than other girls in her community. So this is from
an article from english.onlinekabar.com. They write, born in 1999 in Kalali,
Raksha's childhood was different from that of many girls in
the far West. She did not face discrimination for being
a girl. Her middle-class family did everything possible to secure

(01:12):
a bright future for their children. Most importantly, she was
not discriminated against in education. The awareness she developed through
the education has now become a valuable asset for society.
She said, in my home, I was never restricted for
being a girl, but I felt the discrimination in the
structure of society from an early age.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
So it's it's great to see that.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Her family really did foster her ability to get her education.
And in that article, they talk about the area, saying
though it was diverse and seemingly cohesive and unified, as
in there didn't seem to be big scales of discrimination,
so it seemed everything was great, that there was still

(01:53):
a caste system in place. So back to that article,
she says, But seeing Taru people who worked in others'
homes being made to eat separately left me deeply saddened.
I kept wondering why such discrimination existed. So the actual
practice of the caste system was legally abolished, but that
didn't mean it didn't still exist. And the existence made

(02:15):
her question a lot about how society treated the marginalized community.
And it's during these formative years, bombs started to protest
against the system. whether it was defying who she could
eat with or how she ate or just understanding that
something needed to change. So essentially, like people within the
lower caste systems had to eat on specific types of plates,

(02:35):
it explains. And she would defy that and use that plate.
And no one really were like, oh, you can't do that.
But in her mind, she knew it was setting a
precedent for herself and understanding like this is not OK.
Something needs to change and I'm not going to be
a part of that system.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
So very young.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
I love to see that.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
So back to that article. Her childhood grew alongside a
political awakening society. There was a people's movement against the monarchy,
and the Maoist insurgence was nearing its end. After the movement,
discussions about marginalized groups, indigenous people, women, madasis, tarus, and
minorities became mainstream. Raksha followed these conversations closely. She was

(03:12):
always ahead of her age in questioning discrimination. So in
another article written for KathmanduPost.com, they write this. Eight organizations
described it as a place of struggle, the communities she
was in. Baum did not accept that. More than struggles,
her home had culture, nature, and possibilities. What it lacked
was justice and attention from those in power. Kalali is

(03:35):
not poor. It is made poor, she says. And that's
such a different perspective. It takes so many of us
so long to understand that. It's not because they didn't
do something or they didn't work this way. It's just
the way the system was set up. And she really
figured that out when she was quite young. Since then,

(03:55):
she has continued her journey in activism. She went on
to get her bachelor's in social work, fellow social worker,
and master's in gender studies. She is a proud feminist
and has talked about understanding what feminism is, saying this,
feminism didn't come from books.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
It came from experience. Amen, girl.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Amen. And she's talked about how she started understanding about
the inequalities while studying outside of her home. So back
to that Kathmandu post This shift opened her eyes to inequality.
The move to the city felt like stepping into a
different world. Life in the capital looked full of opportunities,
while her hometown felt ignored. That contrast disturbed her. She

(04:35):
began questioning why basic services were missing in her province.
People had to rush to India for better health care.
Students had to travel far from home to study. This
did not feel like an accident to her. It felt
like a system designed to leave people behind. Again, I
think that's amazing that she understood that because even when
we look at the areas in the U.S. and where

(04:55):
hospitals are accessible, that's that same conversation. Why do we
have to go to the main cities to get actual
good care?

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Her time studying social work included field work at rural schools,
farming communities, and programs like the Red Cross. And she
said this about that experience. Social work taught me acceptance.
It taught me to accept different opinions.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
It does.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Social work teaches you a lot. acceptance and also, again,
being aware of inequities that need to be addressed. And
she's talked about how visiting different villages really opened her
eyes as she realized that children oftentimes didn't have access
to basic school supplies. And with that, she worked with
the USAID Fellowship about misinformation and the right to information.

(05:38):
So this is from that english.onlinekabar.com article. The right to
information should be taught from the school level, she says.
She interacted with hundreds of students and continued advocating for
social justice, not because she believed she could change the
country overnight, but because she believed questions must be preserved. Again,
we talked a lot about misinformation and disinformation, and a

(06:00):
part of that conversation is erasing the actual questions that
should be asked, even when it can't be answered. Mm-hmm.
And it was after the brutal rape and murder of
Nirmala Pant that she started to join protests and public activism, saying, quote,
That's where I heard justice delayed is justice denied. That's

(06:22):
such a big saying. And since then, she has continued
to be active in movements within her community. And on
September of 2025, she was one of the young leaders
of the Gen Z uprising in Kathmandu. So from Harbinger's Magazine,
they write, the Gen Z protests took place on September
8th and 9th, 2025, killing 77 people and injuring hundreds more.
They resulted in the overthrow of the government led by

(06:44):
KP Sharma Ali and the formation of a new interim government.
So a little more information about that from ElPaz.com. When
Raksha Bomb 26 saw Nepali flags flying over the Gen
Z protests in Madagascar, she realized that what her generation
in Kathmandu had accomplished was historic. Just a few days before,
protests broke out in the African island in September 2025.

(07:07):
The actions started by young people born between the end
of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s had
culminated with the fall of KP Sharma Oli's administration. In Madagascar,
they used our flag as a symbol of rebellion. But
without a doubt, we were also inspired by other countries.
We followed the movements in Bangladesh and Indonesia. The entire

(07:28):
world was suffering, recalls BAM, the coordinator of Nepal Gen
Z Front.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
So, wow.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
And it continues, the young activist and feminist who graduated
with a degree in social work and master's in gender
studies was one of the most prominent faces of the
movement born online and in the streets after the government
of Nepal prohibited 26 social media platforms, among them YouTube, Facebook, Instagram,
and WhatsApp. Gen Z rose up to protest corruption, abuse

(07:54):
by the ruling parties, and a lack of opportunity in
their countries. Around 56% of Nepal's population is under 30
years old, according to its 2021 census, which is mind-blowing.
I was like, wow, that's a huge chunk of people
to be under 30.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
And I love to see it's changing with them.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
And though it could be considered a success, Bom has
talked about how it was a conflicting movement as some
of her friends and protesters were injured or killed. So
she told El Paso, we lost many friends at the protests.
We were full of rage and frustration, and suddenly there
was this vacuum of power. Our democracy was under threat.
At the moment, we thought, now it is our responsibility
to step forward and lead. So among the articles that

(08:35):
you read, you will see that at the beginning, like
many of the protests, it was peaceful. It began peaceful.
They had intentions of remaining peaceful. They were trying to
use their rights and their voices. But a lot of
the times, law enforcement come out swinging and essentially are
shooting at and killing many of the protesters, which made

(08:55):
it very bloody and very violent. And I know a
lot of the leaders, like Baum, was calling for peace
and calling for calm and asking their own people to
be calm, but at the same time understood they had
to defend themselves, especially when they weren't.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Armed, and most of them weren't.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
So it's a devastating moment, but it's one of those
things that sometimes It takes bloodshed for things to change,
and this is kind of what it came down to.
And after the chaos and the deaths of many, more
than 2,000 were injured, there's been a lot of changes
within the Gen Z movement.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
So back to that El Paz article.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
The Gen Z movement, explains Baum, still exists, but it
has divided into different missions. Some work with the ruling
party in the ministries or with the prime minister. Others,
like her, remain in the streets, monitoring the new administration.
In Nepal, civil society is weak.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
She explains. Generation Z. So they are constantly watching.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Since the horrible flooding that has happened in Nepal, she
has come out in conversation and understanding that her activism
has absolutely merged with climate change activism as well. And again,

(10:21):
she is no stranger in the intersectionality of it all
and knowing that it's about women's rights, it's about feminism,
it's about climate change, it's about just humanitarian rights in general.
So she has come out in conversations about what that
looks like today. That is changing, ever changing, obviously, as
she is a part of this movement. It's amazing to

(10:42):
see the younger generations. I think this is what we
had in conversations before that, yes, as so many bad
things are happen, the younger generations are also rising to
make change.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
And we love to see it.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
And again, also why social media has become such a
tool and why we are seeing governments trying to take
control of platforms because they are trying to control the
narratives once again.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah. Yeah. And it's really cool to see when a
movement like this inspires other movements or helps inform other movements.
We always like when we get to see that. So
As always, listeners, if you have anyone we should highlight
in this series, mini-series, please let us know if you

(11:24):
have any suggestions. You can write to us. Our email
is hello at stuffandnevertoldyou.com. You can find us on Blue
Sky at Mom's Top Podcast or on Instagram and TikTok
at Stuff I Never Told You. We're also on YouTube.
We have some merchandise at Cotton Bureau. And we have
a book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks,
as always, to our super producer, Rima, and our executive producer, Maya.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
And thanks to you for listening. Stefan Evertold is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, you can
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