"The rattle of iron gates sounded like drumbeats as the crowd surged forward. A sea of bodies stormed through the barricades, which had stood as sentinels of power barely hours ago. The hallways of the house of the country's leader echoed with the thunder of muddy footsteps. Some smashed windows and artefacts, others picked up luxury bedsheets or shoes. The building and its plush interiors had been symbols of crushing authority, impenetrable and out of reach for the country's teeming millions."
"As Nepal, a country of 30 million people sandwiched between India and China, now plots its future in ways alien to traditional electoral democracies, the spate of youth-led protest movements that have toppled governments one after the other in South Asia has also sparked a broader question: Is the world's most densely populated region Ground Zero for Gen Z revolutions? It's certainly very striking."
"On Thursday, some 10,000 Nepali youth, including many in the diaspora, voted for an interim prime minister not through physical or electoral ballots, but through an online poll on Discord, a platform primarily used by gamers. Nepal, where three days of protests against corruption and nepotism turned violent, with a crackdown by security forces leading to the death of more than 70 people, has announced new elections in March."
Mass youth-led protests have surged across South Asia, with dramatic breaches of power symbols such as leaders' residences in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Protesters have stormed official buildings, damaged property, and appropriated luxury items as symbols of popular anger. The movements are largely Gen Z-driven, using online platforms like Discord to organize and even select interim leaders. Protests in Nepal over corruption and nepotism forced a prime minister's resignation and prompted new elections after deadly crackdowns. Analysts identify a common thread of learned tactics and cross-border influence among regional youth movements.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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