New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- On 5 August, Bangladesh marks the second anniversary of the student-led uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government-one of the most consequential turning points in its recent history. The anniversary invites more than national reflection. It raises a regional question: are South Asia's student movements isolated national events, or symptoms of a deeper transformation in the region's politics and society?

The question matters because Bangladesh is not an outlier. Across South Asia, one of the world's youngest and fastest-urbanizing regions, young people have moved from the margins of politics to its centre. Bangladesh's July Uprising was part of a broader resurgence of youth-led activism: Sri Lanka's Aragalaya ...