Youth-led uprisings from Dhaka to Colombo to Kathmandu are not sudden bursts of anger. They are deliberate responses to unemployment, inequality, and long-standing exclusion. These protests go beyond economic crises or weak governance.
They reveal deeper problems: chronic youth joblessness, caste- and colour-based discrimination, and very little social security. Combined with oligarchic control, they show a serious crisis in how South Asian states are run.
Gen Z, often called “post-ideological”, is leading these demands for change, supported by working-class groups hit by rising living costs. These repeated uprisings reflect growing frustration over broken promises.
