Need for closer study of Arab Spring and similar 'operations' in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka :::: Why and How this ... new global wave of unrest ?

The movement in Egypt and the other Arab countries soon came to be known as the Arab spring.

These were like an extraordinary shock and had shaken the decades of torpor and highlighting the power of a 'combustible street', as some analysts described many years later.

The same combustible characteristic were found or 'created' in the streets of Dhaka and Kathmandu. Closer home in India; the 'Manipur operatives' of the conspirators were successful.

In South Asian context, the pattern of street violence ought to studied carefully

Countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal have a booming youth population – almost 40% of the population of south Asia is below the age of 18.

But the policy makers seem to be in another world. This so-called 'youth dividend' is seen as largely going to waste.

Education -- looks directionless.

Unemployment on rise and overall absence of jobs too.

In Nepal and Bangladesh, particularly the living standards of poor are very poor.

And people faced persistently low wages. 

In each case, the specific complaints against leaders in power varied.

But there was one common factor. The wider socioeconomic frustrations of the young people rose up directed against "corrupt political class".

We may say the uprisings were aided by the ability of people to rapidly organise, often on smartphones.

Moreover; the protesters "readily accessible" to web applications which easily defeated state security structures.

 

In Manipur - the Kuki-Meitei clashes were given more serious Hindu-Christian colours. This was a recipe for a perfect disaster. Political detractors of Narendra Modi suddenly became extra ordinarily concerned about Manipur and even documentary video shooters from Goa or southern Indian states landed in Manipur to make documentaries. 

The challenges elsewhere were particularly potent to postcolonial regimes, such as Egypt and Libya, and later Syria, where power had been consolidated.

The so-called 'changing demographics' were made use of everywhere and quite successfully.  

At the global level;  it was stated that the Iraq war and the Arab spring led to ISIS and the Syrian civil war.

But this had another kind of impact. It created the refugee crisis into Europe, contributing to the rise of populism in the west and the UK vote to leave the EU.

“Regaining control of our borders to limit immigration was a key driver of Brexit. 

The Iraq war also contributed to the loss of public faith in experts and the establishment. America’s post-cold war triumphalism crashed and burned in the Middle East. The Iraq war was the catalyst. The failure to stop the bloodshed in Syria the evidence," said Emma Sky, a former adviser to commanding US generals in Iraq. 

In Nepal in September 2025; there was defiance of curfews.

And the protests continued to erupt across the country even as thousands stormed the parliament building in Kathmandu and set it alight. 

Fires burned across the streets of the capital, turning the sky black with smoke, and riot police were pelted with stones. The political leaders were evacuated to safe locations, as anger at the government swelled on the streets. The pattern of episodes in each capitals like Kathmandu and Dhaka were similar.  

In fact, in 2024 itself several people in Nepal reportedly were posting images of Sheikh Hasina fleeing Bangladesh and the refrain was --   ‘This could be us, Nepal should be next.’”

There was a lot of chatter online about taking inspiration from the Bangladeshis.

For the majority of the young people of Nepal grappling with crippling inflation, economic hardship and high youth unemployment – driving millions to find exploitative, often deadly labour work abroad in places such as the Gulf – the images of wealth and luxury were damning proof that Nepal’s political system was broken.

Talk of revolution in the coffee shops of Kathmandu had increased after youth-led protests movements across south Asia resulted in the departures of Sri Lanka’s authoritarian leader, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior research fellow for south Asia at Chatham House, said the youth-led movements that had erupted in Nepal, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka spoke to “several structural challenges facing countries across the region. 

This includes political dysfunction with governments not seen to be responsive to their young and aspirational populations, economic distress and demographic pressures.

A student holds a flag bearing the logo of the popular Japanese manga One Piece : October protest in Madagascar 

It may not be without good reasons to say that a new global wave of unrest is unfolding in several countries. These are driven by generational discontents and taking cues from each other but there is also some 'involvement' of foreign powers especially in the west.