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NEW DELHI: Congress MP Manish Tewari said that there should be a deep study of Gen Z protests that brought down govts in three South Asian countries in last three years to check if they were organic movements arising out of grievances. Tewari said these movements should be examined for critical difference between autonomous agitations over grievances, and agitations driven by narratives where grievances may have been weaponised. Though he did not point at any country which could have virtually carried out coups in Asia in the name of youth protests, his remark suggested that suspicions could not be simply brushed off. Starting with Sri Lanka, protests brought down elected govts in Nepal and Bangladesh – all in the Indian neighbourhood. The note of caution came as Tewari spoke about the turbulent contemporary world, from Venezuela to Bangladesh to Greenland to Ukrainian invasion, at the launch of his new book, ‘A World Adrift’. The book was released by former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha at IIC, and the gathering included P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vivek Tankha, Mukul Wasnik, and a host of foreign delegates, among others. Tewari dismissed the belief that “India has lost Bangladesh” after protests toppled the Sheikh Hasina govt that set in motion developments which have increased the friction between India and Bangladesh. He said India invested blood and treasure in creating Bangladesh under Indira Gandhi, and “that reality is not lost on people of Bangladesh”. He said the present transition govt in Dhaka is belligerent towards India for inexplicable reasons, but there is an “emotive connect” between the neighbours, and Bangladesh will be back in India’s eminent domain in coming time.
