In South Asia, a new kind of revolution is taking shape, and it’s being led by Gen Z. From storming the homes of leaders in Nepal, to forcing a prime minister’s resignation in Bangladesh, to toppling a ruling dynasty in Sri Lanka, young protesters are showing they’re no longer willing to wait for change. What began as isolated uprisings is now starting to look like a regional wave: a generation fed up with corruption, nepotism, and governments run by leaders old enough to be their grandparents.
In Nepal, thousands of young people defied bans on social media and took to the streets. After days of violent clashes that left more than 70 dead, protesters ransacked the home of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who soon resigned. In Bangladesh, students furious over discriminatory job quotas built a movement so powerful that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country by helicopter. And in Sri Lanka, the “Aragalaya” movement was born in the middle of an economic collapse, ending with the president’s hasty departure.
Analysts say the common thread is clear: Gen Z is demanding a political system that actually listens to them. They’ve lived through multiple economic crises, seen inequality deepen, and spent their most formative years online, where digital platforms have become their tools of resistance. Attempts by governments to silence them with internet blackouts or crackdowns have only fueled the anger. “There is something authentic about this generational framing — the moral outrage of the youth against a generation that is stealing their future,” said one expert.
And these movements are not acting in isolation. From Kathmandu to Colombo to Dhaka, activists are watching, learning, and borrowing tactics from one another, from hashtag campaigns to decentralized organizing on Discord. It’s an emerging playbook of digital-age revolt, powered by frustration and hope in equal measure. The question now is not whether Gen Z will rise up again, but where the next spark will ignite.
Source:
Sharma, Y. (2025, September 16). Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka: Is South Asia fertile for Gen Z revolutions? Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/9/16/sri-lanka-bangladesh-nepal-is-south-asia-fertile-for-gen-z-revolutions