Generation Z protests

India (2026– )

In May 2026 the chief justice of the Supreme Court of India, Surya Kant, made a comment referring to some Indian youth as “cockroaches,” sparking unprecedented backlash and the creation of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a parody social media account founded by political communications strategist Abhijeet Dipke. Its meme-fueled satire gathered followers by the millions and grew into a social movement, touching on subjects including disenfranchisement, press freedom, and corruption. Early on, its influence was far greater online than on the ground.

The movement quickly centered its focus on the mismanagement of India’s principal medical college qualifying examination, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, following reports that questions had been leaked prior to the exam. The subsequent decision to scrap the results of the highly competitive exam—in which about two million students compete every year for only about 130,000 seats—was devastating for aspirants who, in many cases, had spent years preparing and expected to make the cut. More than 20 students died by suicide in the following weeks, reportedly because of the distress caused by the cancellation. A retest was conducted later, but protests over accountability continued.

Dipke and others who joined CJP’s ranks decided to take the protest to the streets, demanding that the Indian education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, take moral responsibility and resign. In early June Dipke returned from the United States, where he had been a student, and called for a protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Over the next few weeks CJP also called for protests in several other cities.

A major turning point in the protest came when social activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk joined the protest in June and began a hunger strike by the end of the month in solidarity with the movement’s call for Pradhan’s resignation. As he sat fasting for 20 days and his health worsened, support for the protest swelled, but the government made no significant acknowledgment of it. On the 21st day Wangchuk was forcibly lifted from the protest site and taken to a hospital by police personnel, though he continued his fast at the hospital. Two days later, on July 20, protesters—mostly students and young people—came in by the thousands to participate in a planned peaceful march to the Indian Parliament but were met with baton charges and tear gas from police forces. On July 21, opposition members of Parliament sat in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, demanding the resignation of Pradhan, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Modi himself; later that day some opposition leaders were removed and briefly detained.

In the days that followed, the protest grew in numbers and spread across the country. With pressure mounting on the government to break the deadlock and address growing demands for his resignation, Pradhan stepped down as education minister on July 25, and cabinet minister Pralhad Joshi was handed the portfolio. Pradhan’s resignation came after three rounds of negotiations between representatives of the government and the CJP. The CJP also secured guarantees that the government would compensate the families of the students who died by suicide and that no legal action would be taken against protesters in the future. The CJP called off the countrywide protest on the same day.

Nepal (2025)

The most dramatic of the Generation Z uprisings unfolded in Nepal, a Himalayan country wedged between democratic India and authoritarian China. With youth unemployment exceeding 20 percent and nearly one-third of gross domestic product derived from remittances, the economy reflected chronic failure. A small, entrenched elite dominated politics and businesses, presiding over years of corruption and repeated governmental collapse.

In September 2025 frustration erupted when a viral online campaign mocking “nepo babies”—the privileged children of politicians—swept the Nepali Internet. Within days the government blocked more than two dozen social media platforms. The ban was attributed to the platforms’ failure to comply with new registration rules, but it was widely seen as an attempt to suppress ridicule. The ban severed young Nepalis from the world and from each other, provoking nationwide outrage. On September 8 thousands of students and young professionals filled Kathmandu’s streets. Clashes with police turned deadly; by the next night parliament and several government buildings were ablaze, and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had resigned.

Protesters adopted the Jolly Roger flag from the manga One Piece in an allusion to the hero Monkey D. Luffy’s rebellion against corrupt power. Images of the flag pinned to the burning parliament building went viral around the world. As protests continued, more than 70 people were killed and thousands injured before the army restored order. Amid the turmoil, demonstrators held a Discord “election” and nominated Sushila Karki, Nepal’s first female chief justice and a respected anti-corruption figure, to lead an interim government. After she was sworn in on September 12, her appointment was celebrated as a generational victory over oligarchy.

Indonesia (2025)

In 2025 Indonesia experienced multiple waves of youth-led protest against corruption and elite privilege. Unrest began in February after major budget cuts to education, health, and social programs coincided with a poorly implemented “national meal plan” policy and a law expanding the number of civilian posts in the government open to active-duty officers, stoking fears of creeping militarism. The demonstrations that followed, centered in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and Kalimantan, became known as the Indonesia Gelap (“Dark Indonesia”) protests, evoking public disillusionment with opaque governance. The movement erupted in August after parliament approved a new monthly housing allowance for lawmakers worth 50 million rupiahs (about $3,000)—nearly 10 times Jakarta’s minimum wage. Outrage soared when a 21-year-old delivery driver, Affan Kurniawan, was run over and killed by an armored police vehicle on August 28, his death captured on video.

Protests spread to more than 30 provinces, with demonstrators adopting the Jolly Roger flag from One Piece. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons. At least 6 people were killed, more than 1,000 were arrested, and 20 were reported missing. Facing a national crisis, Pres. Prabowo Subianto rescinded the housing allowance, imposed a moratorium on overseas trips for lawmakers, and promised dialogue. By November the streets were calm, but youth anger had deeply shaken Indonesia’s political establishment.

Philippines (2025)

In September 2025 tens of thousands of young Filipinos protested revelations of large-scale corruption in flood-control projects intended to address climate change. Government audits suggested that billions of pesos had been misappropriated between 2023 and 2024. The demonstrations, largely peaceful, resulted in more than 200 arrests but no major violence. Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., responded sympathetically, creating a commission for a corruption investigation and remarking, “If I weren’t president, I might be out in the streets with them.” Although the government remained stable, the protests forced the resignation of the house speaker and demonstrated growing impatience among Generation Z in the Philippines with political dynasties and systemic corruption.

Bangladesh (2024)

In summer 2024 student protests in Bangladesh demanding reform of civil-service recruitment rapidly grew into a nationwide anti-government movement. By early August, following violent crackdowns against the protesters, demonstrators were calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed after 15 years in power. On August 5 she stepped down and fled to India. Protesters ransacked her official residence in Dhaka, and the next day student leader Nahid Islam urged the dissolution of parliament and the appointment of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to head an interim administration. The demands were accepted by Pres. Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu. The uprising became an early emblem of youth political assertiveness in the developing world. On November 17, 2025, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Hasina and her former home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, to death in absentia for crimes against humanity during the 2024 protests, which a UN fact-finding mission estimated had left more than 1,400 people dead. The interim government requested her extradition from India, but observers considered it unlikely that the request would be granted.

Sri Lanka (2022)

Sri Lanka’s 2022 uprising was, perhaps, the first time that Gen Z toppled a national government. Years of fiscal mismanagement and concentration of power under the Rajapaksa family—compounded by pandemic disruptions, a sudden fertilizer ban, and global fuel shortages—produced inflation, food scarcity, and daily power cuts. Beginning in March students and young professionals filled the streets of Colombo, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in May and the flight of Pres. Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July. The movement’s demand for accountability reshaped national politics and paved the way for the 2024 election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who positioned himself as the antithesis of the entrenched elite.

Madagascar (2025)

In Madagascar, protests that began in September 2025 over public utility shortages rapidly escalated and resulted in Pres. Andry Rajoelina fleeing the country and the military taking power in October. Led by university students of the Generation Z cohort, working under the name Gen Z Madagascar—Gen Z Mada for short—the movement had a strong presence on social media platforms as well as its own website and used those forums to outline its concerns and organize demonstrations.

The protests began on September 25, with Malagasy citizens led by Gen Z Mada demonstrating in the capital, Antananarivo, against the chronic shortages of power and water in the country. Some of the demonstrations turned violent, with police using rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the gatherings, and led to deaths and injuries. Demonstrations continued in the following days and spread to other cities, and protesters soon called for Rajoelina to step down and for reforms to be made to the political system. Like their counterparts in other countries, Gen Z Mada embraced the Jolly Roger flag from One Piece as a symbol of their movement, though some versions of the flag were modified to show the flag’s iconic straw hat replaced with a traditional Malagasy hat.

Rajoelina’s responses to the crisis included dissolving the government in late September and offering to meet with the protesters and naming a new prime minister in October, but the unrest continued. The situation escalated when, on October 11, the elite Corps d’administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques (CAPSAT) military unit announced it would refuse to fire on protesters, implored other security forces to do the same, and joined in the protests.

On October 13 Rajoelina addressed the country via the presidential Facebook page, stating that there had been threats made on his life and he was sheltering in a safe location. But he did not offer his resignation, and unofficial reports indicated that he had already fled the country. The next day Rajoelina, again using the presidential Facebook page, attempted to dissolve the National Assembly, but the legislative body disregarded his proclamation and instead voted by a near-unanimous margin to impeach him. Immediately following Rajoelina’s impeachment, CAPSAT leader Col. Michael Randrianirina declared that the military had taken power. Although Madagascar’s High Constitutional Court asked him to temporarily serve as president and organize new elections within 60 days, he instead said that he and the military would govern as part of a transitional administration for up to two years and would organize a constitutional referendum as well as elections. He also pledged to include Gen Z in the transition efforts.

Randrianirina was officially sworn in as president on October 17. Before the end of the month, he had appointed a new prime minister and cabinet ministers, the majority of whom were civilians.

Although some Gen Z protesters celebrated the turn of events, others were uneasy with the military’s interventions. Many took the pragmatic approach of choosing to wait and see if the new transitional government would be able to address the problems and concerns that had driven the protests. If not, they promised to hold the new administration accountable.

There was a certain irony in Rajoelina’s downfall: He himself had ascended to power in 2009 under similar circumstances. He was a popular 34-year-old Gen X politician who had attracted the support of many young Malagasy. He clashed with the incumbent president at the time, 59-year-old Marc Ravalomanana, of the baby boomer generation, which led to months of turmoil in the country. In the face of ongoing unrest, Ravalomanana stepped down, and Rajoelina found support with CAPSAT, which intervened to have him installed as the president of a transitional administration. Some 16 years later, Rajoelina found himself sidelined from the presidency in a similar manner by CAPSAT.

Kenya (2024– )

In Kenya, several weeks of protests began in June 2024 and were led by that country’s Generation Z cohort. The protests were initially over proposed tax changes but expanded into calls for Kenyan Pres. William Ruto to step down. By the time the unrest died down in August, the protesters had scored a victory in that the controversial tax increase proposals had been dropped, though Ruto remained president.

In early 2024 awareness of the tax increases and new taxes proposed in the government’s annual finance bill led to disgruntlement among multiple sectors of Kenyan society. The proposed tax changes were widely circulated via social media, and Kenyans mobilized to show their disapproval. “Occupy Parliament,” a sit-in at Parliament, was planned for June 18, the day that MPs were scheduled to discuss the finance bill. The Occupy Parliament movement and broader opposition to the finance bill were largely dominated by protesters from the Generation Z cohort. Rather than being led by notable figures or political leaders, the movement was proudly leaderless and emphasized the people-led nature of the protests that relied on social media to organize and mobilize supporters.

Hundreds of young Kenyans turned out at Parliament in Nairobi on June 18 and were met by police using water cannons and tear gas. The unequivocal, widespread opposition to the proposed taxes did lead the government to drop some of them from the bill. However, that was not enough to satisfy the protesters. Two days later, thousands of Kenyans again demonstrated in Nairobi as well as in other major towns throughout the country, and chants of “Ruto must go” were heard.

The young protesters organized a nationwide strike to be held on June 25, the day legislators were due to vote on the finance bill. Many turned out en masse outside Parliament as well as in other cities, towns, and rural areas. In Nairobi police met demonstrators with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons. When protesters learned that the controversial bill had passed, many stormed the Parliament complex, parts of which were later set ablaze. Several demonstrators were shot with live fire when they entered the complex. More than 20 people were killed and hundreds were injured that day.

The Gen Z-led unrest over the finance bill had become the largest crisis Ruto had faced in his presidency. The next day he announced that he would not sign the bill, and the government would instead look to austerity measures to help address the fiscal shortfall. However, protests and calls for him to resign continued. In early July Ruto hosted a live forum on the social media platform X to engage with the protesters. A week later he dismissed the majority of his cabinet. His new cabinet, sworn in on August 8, included some opposition members; that day also marked the last of the major anti-tax gatherings.