Similarities and differences of three recent uprisings in South Asia: Lesson for democracies

SOUTH Asia is living through an era of popular uprisings that has reshaped the political vocabulary of the region. In Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu, ordinary citizens—many of them strikingly young—have turned public squares into stages for democratic confrontation. These movements differ in their national contexts and immediate triggers, yet together they illuminate how people power can both rescue and test democratic institutions.

- By P.M. Amza

Sri Lanka's Aragalaya

Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya of 2022 remains the most dramatic of the three. Confronted with an unprecedented economic collapse, spiralling inflation and crippling shortages of fuel and medicine, citizens of every ethnicity converged on Colombo’s Galle Face Green. Their demand was simple but revolutionary: an end to executive overreach and the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Despite occasional provocations and isolated violence, the protests were largely peaceful, disciplined and inclusive.

After Rajapaksa fled the country in July 2022, Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had previously served as prime minister six times, as president to serve out the remainder of the term. His selection, achieved through a parliamentary vote rather than a direct election, provided a measure of constitutional continuity at a moment of profound uncertainty and helped stabilise the government until fresh elections could be held. Parliament subsequently adopted the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution, which restored key checks on presidential power and revived independent oversight commissions.

Bangladesh's protest wave

Bangladesh’s protest movement of 2024-25 grew from a different soil. It was not national bankruptcy but deep disquiet over electoral manipulation, rising costs of living and shrinking space for the press that brought students, garment-sector workers and middle-class professionals onto the streets. They demanded a neutral caretaker government and a genuinely independent election commission. Sit-ins and citywide strikes paralysed Dhaka, and encrypted messaging allowed demonstrators to stay a step ahead of police action.