South Asia’s Gen Z protests offer one lesson in common

From Sri Lanka and Nepal to Bangladesh and India, youth protests have shaken or even toppled governments, but creating lasting change has been more challenging

As one journalist observed, for the first time since 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, fear had “switched sides”. The protests began over paper leaks that resulted in the cancellation of the national examination for admission to medical schools. A few months ago, protests of this magnitude – with Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in Parliament, demanding that Modi resign – were unthinkable.

From Sri Lanka to Nepal, Bangladesh to India, South Asia has seen variants of youth protest movements, each producing its own unique results. The common theme for these protests is that they were essentially leaderless or horizontal movements and had no single political party behind them.

All arose organically, spurred by youth anger over political and economic systems, and often drew on existing networks like unions, student federations and activist groups for on-the-ground organisation. But most had no grass-roots political mobilisation which could convert their street power into an organised political movement and lead to electoral success.

When elections were finally held, the country saw the return of the political establishment, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Tarique Rahman, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, winning.