Nepal, Oct. 15 -- It is natural to want to analyse the events of September 8-9. Newspapers, forums, webinar discussions and podcasts have all discussed the meaning of what happened. However, as with the post-earthquake discussions, people's responses tend to follow prior assumptions about how Nepal works. The biggest challenge is not to generate more 'hot takes' but to listen, understand what happened and why, and to question our assumptions about Nepal and Nepali politics, starting from the point of what and who we don't know, instead of what we think we already do.

With some excellent exceptions, most explanations have been predictable and well-worn. One explanation is that this was chaotic and nihilistic violence generated by young, p...