In recent years, Southasia has seen a mushrooming of youth-led protest movements – fuelled by frustration around corruption, nepotism and economic inequality, and by anger at political and economic systems that have failed to deliver on their promises.
In Nepal, the region watched as TikToks and Instagram Reels about #nepobabies, exposing the luxurious lives of the children of Nepal’s political and business elite, spilled over into street protests calling for change. In Bangladesh, student protesters rose up to oust Sheikh Hasina’s repressive Awami League regime in July 2024. And in Sri Lanka, mass protests forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the president’s office in 2022 as young people spoke out against political dynasties – and the country then voted in an untried political party and president in hopes of change.
What can we understand of the forces that drove these movements and uprisings?
What can the three countries learn from each other, and what lessons might there be for the rest of Southasia?
This Himal Southasian Conversation co-hosted by the peace activist Harsh Mander and Himal Editor Roman Gautam aims to compare and contrast these protest movements. The panel consists of Ambika Satkunanathan, a lawyer and the former Human Rights Commissioner of Sri Lanka; Pranaya Rana, a journalist and the editor of the Kalam Weekly newsletter from Nepal; and Zyma Islam, a senior staff correspondent at the Daily Star in Bangladesh.
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