SINGAPORE, Mar 27: With global conflict disrupting trade routes and Asian economies likely to experience significant shocks, experts at an international conference in Singapore expressed concern about the possibility of new waves of protest due to these pressures.
“While protests often capture the imagination of observers by bringing struggles from the periphery or margins to the centre of public life, they are frequently followed by a period of disillusionment,” a National University of Singapore think-tank, the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), said in a statement.
The statement followed a conference on South Asia: “Gen Z-Led Regime Changes Across South Asia”, which was held on March 23 and 24 here.
The conference’s main objective was to understand the drivers of the youth-led mass protests that emerged in several South Asian countries over the past few years, said the think-tank.
ISAS cited the conference speakers’ arguments that little changes (in the aftermath of the protests) and that the newly elected leaders represent merely a different type of elite.
Other speakers, however, viewed the moments of collective dissent more optimistically, seeing them as instances that reshape the role of the citizen, demonstrate popular agency, and reveal the limits of ruling elites by pushing through overdue governance reforms, said ISAS in a round-up of the conference.
It pointed out that footage was seen of protesters breaking into government institutions and the homes of political leaders, showing the boiling over of frustrations of people who felt that their political elite were not honouring their social contract.
“Anti-corruption was a particularly powerful slogan within several of these movements. Soon afterwards, similar protests were seen in countries such as Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria,” it added.
The conference examined the nature of these protests, on what their ideological influences were, and what they revealed about the resilience of democratic institutions.
Speakers also explored why some countries in the region, such as India and Pakistan, did not experience comparable regime-change protests in this timeframe, and how governments respond to popular frustrations in those contexts.
Addressing the conference, ISAS Director and Associate Professor Iqbal Singh Sevea noted that over the past few years, South Asia has witnessed a series of dramatic political developments. Since 2022, several countries in the region have experienced extra-electoral regime changes driven by mass public mobilisation. In Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, large-scale protests led to the resignation or removal of sitting political leaders.
“While the immediate triggers varied – from severe economic hardship and energy shortages to student protests and political grievances – these events point to deeper structural transformations within South Asian societies,” Sevea said.
At the heart of many of these movements is a powerful demographic force: the region’s youth – a generation deeply connected through digital platforms, increasingly aware of global standards of governance and opportunity, and often frustrated by limited avenues for meaningful political and economic participation, he highlighted.
“These frustrations have helped generate new forms of mobilisation that challenge established political elites and institutional arrangements,” Sevea added. (PTI)
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