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.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.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 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 Bangladesh, many of the same sources of youth frustration are becoming increasingly visible.
For example, despite its economic boom, nearly 40% of graduates ages 15 to 25, and 20% of those aged 25 to 29, are unemployed, according to a recent report by Azim Premji University.On Saturday, Dharmendra Pradhan, India's embattled education minister, resigned amid mounting pressure from massive student protests over widespread exam paper leaks.Weeks earlier, Chief Justice Surya Kant sparked outrage after remarks that many interpreted as comparing unemployed youth to "cockroaches." Although he later said his comments had been misinterpreted,...