Meltdown in Nepal

Need for interim government at the earliest to steer it out of turmoil

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HERE IS a sense of déjà vu regarding the massive anti-government student protests in Nepal that toppled the government headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Last August, weeks of student protests in Bangladesh forced PM Sheikh Hasina to flee to India.

Three years ago, escalating nationwide protests in Sri Lanka led to former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa seeking safety in a naval base. Of course, there are differences between these groundswells of opposition that forced regime change in the neighbourhood. In Nepal, the ban on social media was the proximate trigger for the protest by Gen Z but the unrest was simmering for some time. In Bangladesh, the students agitated against the quota system for government jobs. In Sri Lanka, the unrest was against crippling shortages of essentials and double-digit inflation.