What is in a name?
For Sudhan Gurung, an activist from Darjeeling, and Sudan Gurung, leading the Gen Z movement in Nepal, a lot seems to be at stake.
Mistaken online for Darjeeling’s Sudhan Gurung, Nepal’s Sudan is facing an online backlash, with many questioning his credibility.
Many Nepalese citizens have alleged that the leader of the Gen Z movement in their country is someone from the Darjeeling-Sikkim region of India.
Those trolling did not evidently notice that the activist from Darjeeling spells his name with an “h” while Nepal’s activist spells his name without an “h”.
The confusion amplified on social media has forced Darjeeling’s Sudhan to come up with a clarification.
“It has come to my notice from various sources continuously that there is confusion between my name, Sudhan Gurung, and another individual named Sudan Gurung from Nepal, in relation to the ongoing Nepal Gen Z Revolution,” said Darjeeling’s Sudhan.
Darjeeling’s Sudhan is the president of the Trained Unemployed Youth Welfare Organisation, who raises his voice against alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
He was also attacked with sharp weapons in Darjeeling on May 18 and had to
be hospitalised.
The Darjeeling activist further added: “…….I formally state that the person ‘Sudan Gurung’ participating in these protests is a citizen of Nepal and is a different person altogether with no relation to me in any form. Incidentally both of us bear the same name and it stops here.”
The Gen Z movement was triggered by the Nepal government’s decision to ban 26 social media platforms — including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube and X — for their failure to register with the government.
It soon turned into an uprising by the youth of the country against “corruption” and “nepotism”. Ultimately, it led to the resignation of Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
Nepal’s Sudan, who is attached to an NGO Hami Nepal, is being credited with igniting the youth-driven movement.
He also took a lead in holding a meeting with Nepal President Ram Chandra Poudel on Friday night to select the interim Prime Minister of Nepal, Sushila Karki.
Amid the Sudhan-Sudan confusion, Sudan’s supporters also started posting his citizenship details to clear the air.
The document states Sudan was born in Gorkha district of Nepal.
Many said that a section of the Indian media triggered the mistaken identity issue by using the picture of Darjeeling’s Sudhan to represent Nepal’s Sudan. “Slowly this mistaken identity issue took a bigger turn,” said an observer.