South Asia is facing a tsunami sparked by the passions, frustrations and ambitions of a generation whose reasoning and demands cannot be placed in the boxes of old political patterns. No storm in Nepal shook the established order like the September 2025 riot did, not with a visible revolt but deep down a fundamental frustration of poor governance and corruption. Inspired and linked as never before, young people marched with the conviction that their very identity and dignity now demand recognition and legitimacy by the state.
At first glance, the triggers, social media bans, economic crashes, and caste disputes may seem mundane. Look closer and the cracks reveal themselves: corruption sets dynasties apart from common youth, privilege breeds contempt, and rights are transformed into permissions to be granted or withdrawn. In Nepal, the government underestimated the emotional core of Gen Z, whose definition of existence is tied to communication, connection and digital participation. To restrict those is not just to frustrate, but to delegitimise governance itself. What followed were the toolkits of external forces into play.
The Logic of Protest and the Failure of Governance in Kathmandu
In Kathmandu, the government’s abrupt ban on Western social media platforms was rationalised as a regulatory necessity. The older generation in power saw it through a lens of order and control, rights as permissions, stability as a privilege. But the streets opposed this logic: to Gen Z, connectivity is a certainty as basic as breath, to communicate is to participate, to silence is to become invisible. This generation’s lived reality defies a conditionality structure. Political legitimacy hinges on tangible, positive lived outcomes, not theoretical promises or temporary access.
The outcry that followed the ban was not born of theoretical debate or abstract ideology. It was deeply personal, fuelling outrage in those whose livelihoods, relationships, and sense of self were disrupted overnight. For the youth, denial was not negotiable. It became an existential insult, and the state’s inability to grasp this logic rendered every dust-laden slogan into a demand for justice, not charity.
Nepal’s parliament was set ablaze by a protest that cannot be explained as mere political dissent. What unfolded was a collision of logic itself: an older logic of conditional order faced off against a new logic of unassailable certainty. The government fired teargas and rubber bullets, but the youth’s determination showed that violence cannot build lasting legitimacy. When institutions falter and faith dissolves, the final outcome is failure and humiliation, not victory.
Youth Bulge: Boon or Bomb?
Every country in the region today faces a critical question: is its youth bulge a boon or a bomb? The answer lies in how governments respond to the new generational compass. In Nepal, the explosion was not just about jobs or wages but about dignity and visibility. Youth on the streets today are not Maoists seeking revolution nor royalists longing for tradition. They are pragmatic, connected, and impatient. For them, corruption robs the future; privilege insults identity. Their protest is survival politics rather than dogma.
Elsewhere in South Asia, echoes of this revolt ring out. Sri Lanka erupted when life itself became untenable, food, fuel, and medicine disappeared, and the old guard fell quickly. Bangladesh’s 2024 movement was triggered by unfair job quotas. But what started as a narrow demand snowballed into a mass rejection of decades-old regime rule. Many innocent lives were lost to violence, but it deepened the resolve to fight back.
The pattern is clearly discernible. Each uprising is a fallout of weak institutions, neglect, failure of governance, and a volatile, aggrieved population that no longer waits for charity but demands true empathy and transparency. Smartphones and hashtags, viral posts and irreverent memes, drive mobilisations beyond old banners and battle cries. Young South Asians are now marching for life, fairness, and opportunity. When engaged, they are the region’s strongest source; when excluded, they are the region’s powder keg.
Comparison with India’s Farmer Agitations
India is no stranger to youth-powered discontent. The recent farmers’ protests, which claimed over 800 lives, were a clarion call for accountability. The cycle was familiar: the government relied on conditional negotiations; protestors demanded genuine engagement. For months, the contest continued, framing the stakes in existential terms: ‘Either listen to us, or lose our faith forever.’ The dialogue discipline failed, empathy faltered, and the result was escalation and tragedy.
Manipur’s burning agony, a communal crisis running uninterrupted for years, is another urgent case. Women, daughters, and grandmothers were abused, paraded naked, and their suffering was overlooked. Like the horrors of Rwanda that Wayne Dyer often references, the collapse of institutional faith turns humanity into a casualty. In these moments, societies must answer: Is the violence a conspiracy of outside forces, or the product of failed leadership and moral bankruptcy?
The strength of any nation, be it Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or even India, is based on institutions, not individuals or dynasties. Transparency, accountability and governance are the real issues. When these pillars collapse or get subverted, insecurity, unrest manifest only to be exploited by external players to bring about a regime change of their choice. Thus, nations must deny this space through governance and inclusivity.
Ownership Versus Attribution: Regional Lessons
South Asian states are frequently tempted to shift blame. ‘Foreign funding stirs violence.’ ‘Jealous powers target our success.’ Such claims deflect from inconvenient truths: volatility and crisis are as often born within as they are manufactured without. The proper locus of agency is domestic ownership, taking of failures in reform and inability to listen, before fingers are pointed outward.
Nepal and Bangladesh are real-time lessons in volatility. Their situations show how exclusion, unemployment, and corruption provide the fuel and flame for unrest. External manipulation plays a role, but the ignition point is always local injustice. Taking ownership of both abilities and inabilities is not just good rhetoric; it is the essential first step in building a durable democracy.
The Morality and Transparency Imperative
The chief lesson for the world is that morality and ethics, not mere legality or order, must weave through the fabric of governance. This means transparent leadership chosen by and answerable to the people, not simply performed for them. This means leaders must have the fortitude to face the nation, confront failures, and reform. Otherwise, Gen Z’s anger will not simply pass; it will become the new dominant political force, shaping both the style and the structure of authority.
It is a mistake to think that youth protests are only anger or opportunism. Corruption and injustice are not abstract rampages; they are daily realities, especially in the Asian context. But youngsters have reached a new realisation: silence is no longer safe or productive. They are not paid artists waiting to overthrow regimes; they are citizens living at the tipping point itself. Blocking connectivity does not pacify, it undermines; delegitimises; provokes.
Nepal’s case starkly demonstrates that governments must adapt their rationality, or risk losing their mandate. The youth logic does not begin with bargaining; it begins with certainty, with lived realities that resist denial. Restricting digital rights is not a tactical manoeuvre; it is a profound contradiction that unravels the authority entrusted to govern.
The Way Forward
India is moving swiftly to the path of being a global player rather than a spectator, one who is a decision maker, not a decision taker. This journey will be empowered by Gen Z, whose direction and aspirations need to be garnered. The youth in India, like those in Nepal and Bangladesh, must be partners in change, not mere subjects of control. India has the world’s largest youth bulge. It must be a boon, not a bomb, for the Viksit Bharat mission. There are many internal faultlines which need to be addressed and denied space for anti-national forces or foreign-funded NGO’s to exploit.
Are these protests simply Gen Z anger? That question only scratches the surface. They are symptomatic of denial, exclusion, and broken trust in institutions. The youth are not waiting for tipping points; they embody them. Blocking digital participation or expression cannot maintain peace; it delegitimises governance itself. The frustration is unrest, but the deeper hope is reform. Protests are sounding the alarm; whether states heed it, with empathy, reforms and humility, will determine if peace follows or the internal fissures deepen only to be exploited by inimical forces.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lieutenant General A B Shivane, is the former Strike Corps Commander and Director General of Mechanised Forces. As a scholar warrior, he has authored over 200 publications on national security and matters defence, besides four books and is an internationally renowned keynote speaker. The General was a Consultant to the Ministry of Defence (Ordnance Factory Board) post-superannuation. He was the Distinguished Fellow and held COAS Chair of Excellence at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies 2021 2022. He is also the Senior Advisor Board Member to several organisations and Think Tanks.
