Ripples of rebellion: A recent history of global student protests and reasons behind them

New Delhi: Nepal is currently on boil, witnessing one of the most violent and widespread protests in its recent history. This is no royal intrigue or Maoists reshuffle; the Himalayan state is currently seeing the anger and discontentment of its young population being manifested in the streets in real time. It is Viva la revolución all right.

On September 4, 2025, the Nepalese government banned access to 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and X. The government’s reasoning was that these platforms had failed to register to the country’s new media directives, but the country’s ‘Gen Z’ population saw them as another attempt by the ruling dispensation to silence their voice and curb dissent.

What then started as protests around this social media ban directive snowballed into a revolt against the government’s overall corruption and inactivity. Initial resignation by the country’s Prime Minister and President did not placate the crowds. Security forces, including police and the army, employed tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and live ammunition to disperse crowds. There were casualties and injuries but protesters continued, breaching parliament barricades, setting government buildings ablaze.

Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli fled the country, and wife of former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, Rabi Laxmi Chitrakar, died after sustaining critical injuries when their home in Dallu was set on fire amid ongoing unrest. The Army has now stepped in, urging the young protesters to come forward for a dialogue and stop the violence.

It is not just Nepal, but Indonesia as well where Gen Zs have taken to the streets this month. Youngsters, along with women and workers, took over the streets of Indonesia in a violent reaction against corruption, unemployment, income inequality. These protests, like the one in Nepal, were marked by a heavy presence of the youth. As a result of the protests, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto was forced to replace five ministers of his cabinet, including the country’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Budi Gunawan, the coordinating minister for politics and security.

Another recent example is from our very own neighbourhood, that of Bangladesh. Last year in July saw the country erupt with massive student protests. Reacting to an announcement of a job quota system that protesters said was disproportionately benefiting the descendants of Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war fighters, this perceived injustice led students in large parts to come out in protests. Early peaceful protests soon turned violent and pro- and anti-government students clashed around the country. The movement soon escalated into a full-fledged mass uprising after the government carried out mass killings of protesters, ultimately leading to the ouster of the then-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to India.

Similarly, Thailand too saw student protests break out in 2020. After moving from a military dictatorship to a semi-elected government, but still not seeing change, massive student protests and rallies also ignited in the county. Famously adopting the three-fingered salute from The Hunger Games franchise, the splintered protests soon became violent with police eventually stepping in to placate protesters calling for full-fledged democracy in the country. 

Another major and symbolically important student protest was seen in Serbia, where in November 2024 mass protests erupted in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, after the collapse of the city's railway station canopy. By March 2025, the protests had spread to 400 cities and towns across Serbia, characterised by student protests who were seen calling the authorities to accountability. From calling out inaction over a single tragic incident to widespread discontent against the government, confrontations escalated as supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the police clashed with protesters. Many street fights and arrests took place, as most public universities and high schools remained under student-led blockades. A high point of recent student-led political uprisings.

Another significant example of protests against the establishment by the young, at the peril of their personal safety can be recounted as the one that shook Iran after the death of a young girl named Mahsa Amini in Iran. Some of the biggest protests seen in the country, where the government is known to be keeping an iron fist of authoritarian control on its citizenry, especially women, the protests were significantly charged and widespread. They started a spate of anti-hijab protests in Iran which have not really died down completely. While not ‘successful’ in a practical or policy sense, the protests in Iran are a testament of the power of the anger of youth against injustice and repression, something that is currently being seen in Nepal to its full effect.

While protests by the young in different countries occurred because of different reasons, there can be seen some common threads connecting them all. Rebellion, while not always, has often been a young man’s game. Be it teenage rebellion in homes and schools, to college politics forcing major policy change at major institutions, underestimating the power of the youth has come at a great cost to many.

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In the recent examples of student protests in different countries, cultural, economic and political reasons, all are involved. In most cases, the protests are aspirational. An outcry against income inequality, widening class divide and dissatisfaction with a growing ruling elite is common. Awareness of the ills of economic disparity has become pronounced around the world and is leading to many voicing their discontent on the streets. This is common to both Nepal and Indonesia, who are reeling with protests currently. 

The laxity and inaction of governments is also a major factor, be it in Bangladesh or Serbia, that leads people to revolt. Corruption is another major reason as is the need for reform and the moral laxity of politicians, which has left people, especially the young, without patience as they find themselves with no other option but to take to the streets to find better options for themselves.