Southasia's youthquakes – Southasia Weekly #85

This week was a blur as Himal geared up to host a conversation analysing recent youth-led protests in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. From identifying and reaching out to panelists (we were lucky to have Pranaya SJB Rana, Zyma Islam and Ambika Satkunanathan share their perspectives) to listening in on how peace activist Harsh Mander and Roman planned to shape the discussion, I knew that the conversation would be rich - and I wasn’t disappointed.

As a Sri Lankan who lived through our own protest movement not so long ago, I was struck by Zyma’s words when she said that student protesters in Bangladesh had own dreams about what they wanted to see - and then, frustration when their dreams didn’t become reality in the short term, leading to a return to the status quo. This was deja vu for us Sri Lankans, who just last week saw ruling lawmakers scoff at questions asked about their asset declarations, while larger issues of post-war accountability and the continued use of repressive laws such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act swept under the carpet. From Nepal, Pranaya’s recounting of the diverging views among young protesters about how to build true system change received nods of recognition from the rest of the panel - and myself.

I felt we went beyond simply recounting the state of play in each country, and were able to find common ground in shared frustrations - and shared dreams for what change could look like. At Himal, we’re uniquely positioned to bring you these conversations - make sure to support our work so we can keep bringing you more. 

With that, I bring you this week’s update.

This week in Himal

Himal Editor Roman Gautam and peace activist Harsh Mander hosted an edition of Southasian Conversation titled ‘Southasia’s Youthquakes’. You can catch the discussion on YouTube here - don’t miss it!

On an upcoming episode of the State of Southasia podcast, host Nayantara Narayanan chats with Daanish Mustafa, a Professor in Critical Geography at King’s College, London about Pakistan's recurring flood disasters.