Gen Z Factor: How Youth Activism Is Reshaping South Asia’s Geopolitical Future

 

Across South Asia, a new wave of youth-led protest movements is unfolding. Sparked by a blend of economic grievances, anti-corruption zeal, and digital connectivity, Gen Z students and young professionals have taken to the streets from Bangladesh to Nepal. In Bangladesh, India’s neighborhood, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and beyond, activists in their teens and twenties are demanding accountability, jobs, climate action and democracy. These mobilizations – many organized through social media – have already toppled governments or forced policy reversals. They mark a generational shift: half of South Asia’s population is now under 28, and these digital natives expect more of their leaders. The Gen Z factor is real, and its impact is reorienting politics and diplomacy in South Asia.

Bangladesh's July Revolution, as it has come to be known, represents the first successful Gen Z revolution in the world. Yet it is neither isolated nor exceptional. From Colombo to Kathmandu, from Jakarta to Manila, a wave of youth-led uprisings has swept across Asia, challenging entrenched elites, toppling governments, and demanding a new social contract. In Sri Lanka, young protesters ended the Rajapaksa dynasty's decades-long grip on power in 2022. In Nepal, it took Gen Z just two days to bring down Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli's government in September 2025. These movements share common DNA: digital savviness, decentralized organization, economic grievances, and an uncompromising demand for accountability from leaders they see as corrupt and out of touch.

Bangladesh: The Gen Z Uprising
The Bangladesh uprising offers a compelling case study in modern activism's power and potential. When the Supreme Court reinstated a 30 percent quota reserving government jobs for descendants of War veterans, students saw not just an unfair policy but a symbol of systemic patronage and shrinking opportunities. In a country where youth unemployment stands at 15.7 percent—higher than the South Asian average—and where one in three university graduates cannot find work, the quota became a flashpoint for deeper frustrations.

What distinguished this movement was its sophisticated use of digital platforms. Students created Facebook groups called "Anti-Discrimination Student Movement " to organize protests, share real-time updates, and document state violence. When police and government-backed student groups attacked peaceful demonstrators, videos spread virally across social media, transforming public outrage into mass mobilization. The government's response—shutting down the internet for five days, imposing curfews, and deploying live ammunition—only amplified international attention and domestic fury.
Ninety-five percent of protesters received their information and mobilization instructions through Facebook, according to research on the movement. When authorities severed internet access, protesters adapted, using VPNs and international journalist networks to bypass censorship. The image of Abu Sayed, a university student standing with arms outstretched before police shot him at point-blank range, became an iconic symbol that galvanized the nation. His death, like those of hundreds of others, was documented and disseminated through digital channels, making denial impossible and accountability unavoidable.

The Regional Ripple Effect
Bangladesh's revolution has inspired and emboldened youth movements across South and Southeast Asia. The underlying grievances resonate across borders: youth unemployment averaging 17.3 percent across South Asia, widening inequality, elite corruption, and the perception that aging leaders have mortgaged young people's futures. A 2024 survey found that 89 percent of Southeast Asian youth cited unemployment and recession as their top concern, with 85 percent worried about the widening socioeconomic gap.

In Sri Lanka, economic collapse triggered by mismanagement and risky Chinese investments brought protesters to the streets in 2022, ultimately forcing the Rajapaksa brothers from power. Young Sri Lankans who had grown up after the civil war found their futures stolen not by external threats but by their own rulers' incompetence and greed. In Nepal, Gen Z protesters mobilized against nepotism using the hashtag #nepobabies, denouncing a political system where opportunities were confined to ruling party loyalists and their families. Their protests, sparked by a government ban on social media platforms, brought down the government in days. Pakistan’s youth activism has trended more digital than street-based – in part due to a fractured political landscape and a history of military crackdowns. Yet the country’s demographics are similarly skewed: over 60% of Pakistanis are under 30, and by 2025 about 116 million Pakistanis (54% of the population) will use the internet, with 66.9 million on social media. As analyst Arslan Nekokara observes, “social media is transforming the perspective of people, particularly youths, towards politics, protest and citizenship”. India has so far escaped a Gen-Z style collapse, but South Asian trend lines worry New Delhi. Observers point out that India shares many underlying grievances – despite the country’s size and federal structure, half its population is under 28 and job creation has lagged far behind youth population growth. A 2025 study found nearly one in two Indians aged 20–24 unemployed. India’s Gen Z has seen global youth uprisings on screens and faces its own crises (climate vulnerability, rural unrest, caste and religious strife), yet broad student movements have been fragmented. These movements learn from each other. Digital platforms facilitate the rapid exchange of tactics, slogans, and strategies. The leaderless, decentralized organizations have been adapted by movements from Thailand to Bangladesh, making them harder to suppress through traditional methods of arresting key leaders.
 
A New South Asian Script

South Asia’s Gen Z is no longer a passive audience. In Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, they have proved they can rewrite governments; in Pakistan and India, they have forced new issues onto the agenda. These movements are already altering policy: Bangladesh’s caretaker government is rethinking civil service hiring, Nepal’s leadership has vowed to loosen online restrictions, and Sri Lanka’s new rulers have moved to dilute presidential powers, partly in deference to the protest wave. Even external partners must pay attention: development aid and investment now come with conditions on governance, and foreign media highlight youth protests as a barometer of stability.

At the very least, policymakers across the region now frame their strategies around what students and young people want. Prime ministers tout job schemes and startup funds on social media; opposition leaders promise participatory platforms. But experts caution that street protest alone may not guarantee lasting reform. The onus will be on Gen Z itself to convert energy into organized influence – perhaps by forming new political movements or voting en masse in upcoming elections. Sri Lanka’s experience shows that electoral “seismic change” can follow, while Bangladesh and Nepal will soon test whether youth-endorsed candidates emerge. One thing is clear: South Asia’s geopolitical future will be written in part by this generation. Governments and diplomats can no longer assume youth apathy. Regional cooperation too may shift, as young activists push for cross-border climate solutions and digital rights. If the past few years are any guide, ignoring the Gen Z factor is not an option. As strategists observe, the subcontinent’s next chapter will reflect the values and demands of the Twitter-handed, smartphone-toting generation now clamoring for change. In short, South Asia’s political narrative has new authors, and they are young.


Professor Dr. Mohammad Asaduzzaman
is Director General, International
Mother Language Institute, Dhaka.