Nepal in South Asia: State and Governance
Once again, Nepal is in a cataclysmic regime change. Earlier, students and youth played a decisive role in bringing down regimes in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. South Asia is not alone in facing challenges to existing political orders. On September 17, 2025, East Timor also plunged into turmoil when the government’s plan to purchase 65 Toyota SUVs for parliamentarians brought two thousand students onto the streets. As a result, parliament was forced to cancel both the order and the lifetime pension scheme for its members.
It is often said that China is run by engineers, the United States by lawyers, but most South Asian countries are run by politicians preoccupied with party politics at the expense of governance. They think about the next election rather than the next generation. The protests in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were essentially against partyfication of social and economic life. All institutions of public life including supreme court judges were party appointees in Nepal. Why South Asia is in turmoil, and what can be done to promote equity, harmony, and dignity for youth and other marginalized sections of society, remain crucial questions for policymakers and state functionaries.
Some of the major obstacles in building a more harmonious South Asia include:
First, youth discontent, economic slowdown, and inter-communal tensions require careful handling. This is impossible without elite consensus and enhanced regional cooperation. In many internal conflicts in South Asia, the remedy lies not in strengthening state coercion but in improving governance. Recently, one of our neighbouring countries even set up a committee on “Hardening the State.” While the historical purpose of the state is indeed to safeguard life and property, the centrality of the people must remain paramount. Across South Asia, youth, students, and marginalized groups are challenging the existing political and economic order. The global mobility of south Asian youth has been phenomenal since economic liberalisation exposing them to global processes of social, economic and political significance. Political violence often stems from political, economic, and social frustrations—what scholars’ term “grievances.” The tragedy of our times is that politics is becoming increasingly narrow and exclusive. There is no coherent economic policy capable of generating jobs commensurate with demographic growth. Nor is it easy to organize politics along generational lines. Consequently, the post-colonial state in South Asia cannot rely on fear and surveillance as day-to-day instruments of governance. As General Stanley McChrystal observed, “Fear pushes us into ideological bunkers.” What begins as hatred turns into resentment, stripping away our ability to see others as human. No South Asian country can build prosperity by governing through fear.
Second, the rise of crony capitalism has created walls of inequality across the region. During recent protests in Nepal, the Hilton Hotel was set on fire amid chants of “Oli Chor, Desh Chhod” (“Oli thief, leave the country”). The hotel symbolized the nexus of billionaires, bureaucracy, and business. Youth attacked three core symbols of power: corruption, nepotism, and the luxurious lifestyles of ruling elites. Across South Asia, oligarchs have captured state institutions to serve sectional interests. For example, Ahsan Mansur, Governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, revealed that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina used military intelligence to kidnap and threaten bank directors to force the sale of shares to her allies. Similarly, Pakistan’s UNDP National Human Development Report (2020)—The Three Ps of Inequality: Power, People, and Policy—highlighted how eight groups dominate state resources for personal benefit, including state-owned enterprises, the military establishment, wealthy individuals, prominent merchants, exporters, banks, industry, and the feudal elite. Meanwhile, common people continue to wait for the “trickle-down” that never arrives.
In India, inequality has reached levels unseen since colonial rule ended in 1947. The Mercedes Benz Hurun India Wealth Report recently noted that India has 871,700 millionaire households—a staggering 90% increase since 2021. As the International Labour Organization warns: “The greatest threat to prosperity is poverty.” The unregulated free-market economy restricts opportunities for the majority while stealthily enriching a few. Philosopher Isaiah Berlin aptly noted: “The freedom of wolves always means the death of the sheep.”
Third, youth anxieties, especially rising unemployment, remain a pressing concern. In Nepal, the ban on social media may have been the immediate trigger for unrest, but deeper causes lie in a crumbling economy, corruption, and joblessness. Around 1,500 educated and skilled Nepali youth leave the country daily in search of employment abroad—an indictment of the prevailing economic order. During the recent protests, all 77 districts of Nepal were engulfed in violence. As international politics expert Amitabh Mattoo observed: “When a country loses its youth to martyrdom in protests or to migration abroad, it risks its national security.”
The scale of destruction is alarming—not only for Nepal but for the entire region. Symbols of the republic, including parliament, the central secretariat, the Supreme Court, the national bank, and the official residences of the president and prime minister, were burned down along with official records. Similarly, in Bangladesh, on September 11, 2025, the student union affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami won student elections at the prestigious Dhaka University, securing 14 top positions. Meanwhile, technological disruptions are intensifying concerns. Writing in the Financial Times (September 5), AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton warned that artificial intelligence would enrich a few while impoverishing the many, as it boosts profits but eliminates jobs. China’s Tsinghua University has even established the world’s first AI-powered hospital. In India, more than 28,000 start-ups shut down over the past two years due to bankruptcy or inactivity—particularly in Agri-tech, fintech, ed-tech, and health-tech. According to a recent Morgan Stanley Report, India must double its current growth rate to generate enough jobs for its unemployed youth.
The Road Ahead
The above discussion highlights the urgent need to rethink and re-set South Asia’s political and economic future. First, redistributive policies must be strengthened to prevent risks to social stability. Second, national consensus in each country is vital, prioritizing the economic security and financial stability of millennials. Third, ensuring institutional neutrality in governance is essential. No nation can overcome unemployment by quarrelling with its past or fighting its diversity. Fourth, we may have to slow down automation to save jobs. This was at one time advocated by Bill Gates also. Recently Tata consultancy announced its decision to lay-off 12,000 employees. The industry is at inflexion point due to integration of AI and automation into core business operations. Fifth, we need to think about making a law on de-oligarchizing politics as was done by Ukraine. Finally, South Asia must recognize the importance of peace as a foundation for economic stability and work collectively to safeguard the region from internal rivalries and external interference. We need to get back to old patriotic song:
Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein
Kal Ke Baat Purani
Naye Daur Mein Likhange
Milkar Nayi Khani
Prof Gull Wani is Kashmir Based Political Scientist
