The 'cockroach' in the machine: How Gen Z is rattling South Asia's elites
•Gen Z protests in South Asia have recently led to the resignation of political leaders in Nepal and Bangladesh.
•Social media bans and elite privilege have sparked widespread unrest among young people in the region.
•India, with its large youth population, is experiencing similar tensions as grievances among the youth come to the forefront.
Deep Dive The 'cockroach' in the machine: How Gen Z is rattling South Asia's elites July 27, 202612:54 PM ET By Šumit Ganguly A Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporter shouts slogans at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday during the ongoing protest to demand the resignation of India's education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images Šumit Ganguly is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is a distinguished professor of political science emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington. In September 2025, Nepal's government banned 26 popular social media platforms, alleging the companies had failed to comply with new regulations aimed at curbing misinformation and online hate speech. Critics, however, viewed the move as an attempt to suppress viral videos showcasing the lavish lifestyles of politicians and their "nepo kids." Mass protests followed, and within days, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned. Sponsor Message Asia Nepal's prime minister resigns after protests against corruption and social media ban Barely a year earlier, in August 2024, a similar student protest movement ousted Bangladesh's longtime ruler, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The protests stemmed from a High Court decision to uphold a quota system reserving 30% of government jobs for descendants of the veterans of the 1971 independence war. Like Nepal, Bangladesh's Gen Zers also led the protests. World After ousting Bangladesh's leader, Gen Z protesters are figuring out how to govern These uprisings highlight a common fault line: Elite privilege endures even as youth opportunities stall. In each case, a single incident acted not as the sole cause of the unrest, but as the spark that brought these existing grievances into the open. Now, similar dynamics have appeared in India, home to the world's largest young population. Although India differs substantially from Nepal and Bang...المصدر: NPR | Source: NPR
→Gen Z protests in South Asia have recently led to the resignation of political leaders in Nepal and Bangladesh.
→Social media bans and elite privilege have sparked widespread unrest among young people in the region.
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