Nepal’s GenZ uprising this September marked the third time in three years that a ruling government and political establishment has been routed by a youth-led popular revolt in Southasia. What drove the explosion of discontent in Nepal, and in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before it? What patterns can be discerned across all three, and what lessons do they hold for each other – especially as each country aspires to a new politics to do away with the old? Are these “Youthquakes” becoming a regional habit, and what risks and opportunities do they bring for Southasia?
Himal’s virtual cover for October 2025 presents a selection of up-close and in-depth coverage of each of the momentous upheavals in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh in Nepal. These are dispatches and perspectives not from ill-informed outsiders being parachuted in, but from local writers, thinkers and activists deeply enmeshed in their countries and the changes affecting them. Alongside these, we present an expert panel discussion unpacking the three uprisings’ resonances and dissonances, and a perceptive essay dissecting many lesser-analysed commonalities driving political discontent across the region.
Himal’s unique, pan-regional approach to Southasia facilitates a rare perspective on these momentous changes, marrying accurate local analysis with nuanced big-picture understanding. We cover Southasia like no other publication can or will.
Southasia’s Youthquakes
Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka: Why and what next?
A wide-ranging panel discussion with the human-rights lawyer Ambika Satkunanathan from Colombo, senior reporter Zyma Islam from Dhaka, and writer and journalist Pranaya Rana from Kathmandu, moderated by the peace activist Harsh Mander and Himal’s Editor Roman Gautam
The overlapping factors behind Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s uprisings
A youth bulge, economic failures, corruption and the perversion of democratic processes are shared causes behind the protest movements that have toppled governments in Southasia
By Anupam Debashis Roy and Rishija Singh | 1 Oct 2025
Nepal’s Gen-Z uprising
Bangladesh’s July Revolution
The Aragalaya in Sri Lanka
Himal rose to the occasion each time to cover the uprisings in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and we haven’t turned our attention away once the immediate crises are done. Watch our website and newsletters in the coming months for more stories and podcasts tracking how each country is faring in its post-uprising transition, especially as Nepal and Bangladesh approach fresh elections.
All best
Roman Gautam
Editor, Himal Southasian