Youth Discontentโ and Systemic Change: โA Look at Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri โLanka
Across South Asia, a potent mix of economic hardship, political disillusionment, and increased digital connectivity is fueling youth-led unrest. While โBangladeshโค has experienced comparatively stronger economic growth under Sheikh Hasina,โ and โคNepal struggles โwith a weaker economy, both nationsโ face alarmingly high ratesโ of youth unemployment, โmirroring similar frustrations in Sri Lanka.
A stagnant job market and limited opportunities are driving educated youth to openly express their discontent. This โis compounded by perceptions of deeply entrenchedโ corruption โฃand dynastic politics, fostering widespread โขpublic โฃdisillusionment. Digital โขplatforms are proving crucial inโ mobilizing this โขfrustration. In โฃBangladesh,โ symbolic online protests like the use of โred profile pictures demonstratedโค solidarity, โฃwhile in Nepal, TikTok and encrypted apps facilitated association despite governmentโ surveillance. This convergence of economically marginalized,yet digitally empowered,youth is creating a volatile environment,uniting diverse groups – from graduates to garment workers – in demands for dignity,opportunity,and systemic change.
Though, the path โto betterment remains unclear.A year after forming anโ interim government, Bangladesh hasโฃ shown little meaningful progress inโ addressing the economic pressures faced by ordinary citizens, with politics continuing to dominate the agenda. The International Labor โOrganization reports โthat roughly 30% ofโค Bangladeshi youth are neither employed, in education, โคnor inโค training, with โyoung womenโ facing โa 23% unemployment rate compared to 15% โfor young men. Opportunities for women remain largely limited to sectors withโค restricted career advancement. โ In 2024, the government offered โขa mere 18,000 jobs againstโ over 2 million new entrants to the workforce annually.
Nepal’s situation is equally concerning. The World Bank reports a 20.8% โฃunemployment rate for those aged 15-24 โขin 2024, driving many young people to seek low-paid โwork abroad.Remittancesโข now constitute 33.1% of Nepal’s GDP – a figure that hasโค steadily risen โover three decades – highlighting theโ critical lack of stable, meaningful employmentโ opportunities within the country.
Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya as a โCase โStudy:
Sri Lanka โคprovides a starkโข example of how economic crisis can translate into โคpolitical upheaval. theโค youth played a pivotal roleโฃ in theโ ousting of the Rajapaksa family, fueled by a deep economic crisis that began with a controversial policy decision. In 2021, the government abruptly โฃbanned chemical fertilizers andโข pesticides, ostensibly โขto promote โorganic farming.This policy severelyโฃ damaged rice and โtea โขproduction – โคsectors โemploying over 30% โฃof the population and heavilyโ reliant โคon state subsidies -โ and was widely perceived asโข a cost-cutting โmeasure. โค
This initial spark ignited the broader Aragalaya (“struggle”) protest movement in 2022,driven โlargely by youth demanding accountability and “systemโ change.” โคUltimately,the protests โคledโ to the removal of president โคGotabayaโข Rajapaksa โand the subsequent election of the NPP government in 2024.