Why Did They Rebel? Remarks on Sri Lanka’s Aragalayain 2022 and Bangladesh’s 2024 Student/Youth Struggle

Abstract

This manuscript examines the emergence of grassroots movements in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, focusing on their responses to economic crises and political dissatisfaction. It explores the Aragalaya protests in Sri Lanka in 2022, which were driven by widespread frustration with governmental mismanagement and economic hardship, culminating in the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The study also analyzes the 2024 student and youth protests in Bangladesh, which similarly reflect discontent with political corruption and economic struggles under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration. By investigating these movements, the paper highlights the significant role of youth leadership and grassroots activism in driving political change in the region.

Keywords

Sri Lanka Bangladesh Protests economy dissent changes

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abdullah

Islam

(2018) Student protests in Bangladesh: New generations, new movements. South Asian Journal of Politics 19(2): 75–93.

Acemoglu

Restrepo

Robinson

(2015) Democracy, redistribution, and inequality. In Atkinson

A. B.

Bourguignon

(Eds.), Handbook of Income Distribution (Vol. 2B, pp. 1885–1966). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Ahmed

(2024) Political opposition and protest movements in Bangladesh: 2024 analysis. Dhaka Tribune. Available at: https://www.dhakatribune.com (accessed 12 February 2025).

Alam

(2024) UN calls for thorough investigation into all killings during Bangladesh unrest. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-sheikh-hasina-un-muhammad-yunus-human-rights-21f0de846824194734518823266c0cd3 (accessed 2 February 2025).

Alam

(2025) Bangladesh minority rights group accuses interim government of failing to protect minorities. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-minority-hindu-attacks-yunus-hasina-india-cdc0996609db39d8c8b6783578ca45a9?utm_source=chatgpt.com (accessed 2 February 2025).

Al Jazeera (2022) India’s role in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/15/india-sri-lanka-economy-aid (accessed 10 January 2025).

Amarasuriya

(2015) Protests and counter protests: competing civil society spaces in post-war Sri Lanka. Economic and Political Weekly 50(9): 49–55.

Arrow

(1951) Social Choice and Individual Values. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Barro

(2000) Inequality and growth in a panel of countries. Journal of Economic Growth 5: 5–32.

10.

Bartholomeusz

de Silva

(1998) Buddhist Fundamentalism and Minority Identities in Sri Lanka. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press

11.

Basu

(2022, July 20). Why Sri Lanka Imploded. Project Syndicate. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sri-lanka-why-it-has-collapsed-by-kaushik-basu-2022-07

12.

Chowdhury

(2024) Student activism and its impact on political protests in Bangladesh. The Daily Star. Available at: https://www.thedailystar.net (accessed 10 November 2024).

13.

Chowdhury

(2020) Bengal and the British: The History of Bengal Under British Rule. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

14.

Chowdhury

(2025) The Return of Politics in Bangladesh. Journal of Democracy 36(1), 65-78. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jod.2025.a947884.

15.

Department of Census and Statistics—Sri Lanka (2008) Statistical abstract of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Available at: http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Abstract_2006/abstract2006/table%20 2007/CHAP%202/AB2-12.pdf (accessed 19 August 2022).

16.

DeVotta

(2022) Sri Lanka’s road to ruin was political, not economic, foreign policy, Available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/12/sri-lanka-crisis-politics-economics-rajapaksa-protest/ (accessed 20 August 2024).

17.

Ghosh

(2023) India’s Foreign Policy in the Indian Ocean Region. London: Routledge.

18.

Goffman

(1974) Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

19.

Gurr

(1970) Why Men Rebel. London: Princeton University Press.

20.

Hasan

Macdonald

Ooi

(2022) How Facebook fuels religious violence in Bangladesh. Available at: https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/06/persistent-challenge-extremism-bangladesh (accessed 2 February 2025).

21.

Houtart

(1974) Religion and Ideology in Sri Lanka. Colombo: Hansa Publishers.

22.

Hussainmiya

(1986) Melayu Bahasa: some preliminary observations on the Malay creole of Sri Lanka. Sari 4: 19–30.

23.

Imtiyaz

ARM

(2009) Eastern Muslims of Sri Lanka: special problems and solutions. Journal of Asian and African Studies 44(4): 404–427.

24.

Imtiyaz

ARM

(2023) Janatha Aragalaya: the people’s struggle in Sri Lanka. Journal of Governance, Security & Development 3(2): 1–21.

25.

Imtiyaz

ARM

Stavis

(2008) Ethno-political conflict in Sri Lanka. Journal of Third World Studies 25(2): 135–152.

26.

Institute of South Asian Studies. (2024, August). From Protest to Revolution: A New Era for Bangladesh? ISAS Insights. National University of Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/papers/from-protest-to-revolution-a-new-era-for-bangladesh

27.

Ivor

Victor

(2022) Sri Lanka: True nature of the storm. Available at: http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2022/07/sri-lanka-true-nature-of-storm.html (accessed 12 May 2025).

28.

The author’s interview with active participants of the Aragalaya. Conducted with 17 youths from southern Sri Lanka via Zoom and WhatsApp during the protest period, February 2023.

29.

Islam

(2013) The Bangladesh Liberation War: A Historical Overview. Dhaka: Dhaka University Press.

30.

Jayasinghe

(2022) India to support crisis-hit Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/india-says-will-support-crisis-hit-sri-lankas-economic-recovery-2022-06-23/ (accessed 20 August 2024).

31.

Jeyaraj

DBS

(2022) Tenacious “Aragalaya” (struggle) of FSP Leader Kumar Gunaratnam Alias Kumar/Kumara. Available at: https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/78620 (accessed 25 July 2024).

32.

McAdam

(1982) Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970. University of Chicago: Chicago Press.

33.

McCarthy

Zald

(1977) Resource mobilization and social movements: a partial theory. American Journal of Sociology 82(6): 1212–1241.

34.

Mohan

(2021) India’s Strategic Interests in the Indian Ocean. United kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

35.

Mujeri

(2021) Economic Development in Bangladesh: Progress and Challenges. Cambridge University Press.

36.

Perera

(2024) Economic crisis, mass protests, and criminalization of dissent in Sri Lanka. In: Di Ronco

Selmini

(eds) Criminalisation of Dissent in Times of Crisis. Critical Criminological Perspectives. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.257–282.

37.

Population and Housing Index (2011). Bangladesh: Population and Housing Census Dataset. Available at: https://bbs.gov.bd/site/page/47856ad0-7e1c-4aab-bd78-892733bc06eb/Population-and-Housing-Census (accessed 11 February 2025).

38.

Rahman

(2024) Government response to protests in Bangladesh: repression and negotiation. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com (accessed 20 February 2025).

39.

Rajagopalan

(2021) India’s approach to Sri Lankan political stability. Asian Survey 61(4): 567–584.

40.

Roberts

(1980) Documents of the Ceylon National Congress and nationalist politics in Ceylon, 1929–1950. The Journal of Asian Studies 39(4): 858–860.

41.

Ross

Savada

(1988) Sri Lanka: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Available at: http://countrystudies.us/sri-lanka/ (accessed 13 July 2024).

42.

Srinivasan

(2022) India’s response to Sri Lankan crisis: a diplomatic perspective. The Hindu. Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sm-krishna-played-key-role-in-shaping-indias-response-to-post-ltte-sri-lankan-crisis/article68970229.ece (accessed 22 December 2024).

43.

Tahmid Rejwan

(2024) Sheikh Hasina’s political demise and Bangladesh’s foreign policy in the Yunus Era. Available at: https://southasianvoices.org/pol-m-oth-r-bangladesh-protests-foreign-policy-08-14-2024/ (accessed 20 August 2024).

44.

The Diplomat (2024) India’s stance on Bangladesh protests. Available at: https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/india-bangladesh-protests/ (accessed 10 January 2025).

45.

The Guardian (2024) Bangladesh protests: key issues driving the unrest. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jul/12/bangladesh-protests-democracy (accessed 22 December 2024).

46.

The Hindu (2022). India’s aid to Sri Lanka: fuel, food, and diplomatic support. Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-sri-lanka-aid/article65422787.ece (accessed 22 December 2024).

47.

The Times of India (2024) Diplomatic engagement: India’s approach to Bangladesh unrest. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-bangladesh-protests/article65109865.cms (accessed 10 January 2025).

48.

The World Fact Book (2013) Sri Lanka. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sri-lanka (accessed 23 July 2024).

49.

Tufekci

(2017) Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

50.

UNFPA (2023) State of World Population 2023. New York, NY: United Nations Population Fund.

51.

United Nations (2025) OHCHR fact-finding report: human rights violations and abuses related to the protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ohchr-fact-finding-report-human-rights-violations-and-abuses-related (accessed 12 February 2025).