Since the early 2020s, a series of mostly Generation Z–led anti-government protests and uprisings have spread across Asia, most notably in South and Southeast Asia, with several leading to massive reforms and regime change. These protests began as a response to widespread corruption, nepotism, economic inequality and mismanagement, authoritarianism, and democratic backsliding. The protests in Bangladesh in 2024 are widely cited as the first successful Gen Z revolution in the world, inspiring similar Generation Z–led protests in other Asian countries including Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Maldives, Iran, and Mongolia. Governments were overthrown in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal; while protests in Indonesia and Timor-Leste achieved reversals of unpopular policies.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced that 355 people were arrested across the country in connection with the June 25 Gen Z anniversary demonstrations, with authorities linking the suspects to various criminal offences committed during the protests.
Speaking during a press...