NEW DELHI: Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), questioned the violent protests in neighbouring Nepal, noting their uncanny resemblance to regime changes in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other countries in recent years.Sanyal raised suspicion over these regime changes that occurred on the back of violent protest, saying: “It does raise the question of how ‘organic’ these things are.”“Irrespective of what one thinks of PM Oli’s regime or his future, the same toolkit gets used suspiciously often in the neighbourhood. We saw students being used as fodder in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and more recently in Indonesia. It does raise the question of how ‘organic’ these things are,” Sanyal wrote on X.In Dhaka, students took to the streets in August 2024 against a controversial job quota system, a movement that snowballed into nationwide protests and the eventual fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. Hundreds died in the crackdown before Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was chosen to head an interim government, with the army playing mediator.Sri Lanka too witnessed mass protests between March and July 2022, fuelled by an economic meltdown of inflation, blackouts, and crippling shortages. Demonstrators stormed government buildings and clashed with troops, leading to Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster. Like in Nepal, a ban on social media only fanned the anger.Experts suggest the violent protests in Nepal may have more to them than meets the eye.“The conspirators in Nepal have lit the fire but have little control over the means to douse the flames,” said CK Lal, author and political analyst told news agency PTI.“Going by the nature of coordinated attacks that have happened across the country, it seems some preparations have been made behind them for quite some time. The social media ban lasted for only four days. There’s no way such violent repercussions could have been orchestrated across the country in such a short span,” he added.“To normal people like you and me, stability and harmony in a country are desirable for neighbouring nations because prosperity spills over. But policymakers think differently. They feel that unstable powers are easier to manipulate and control. Their logic and reasoning are different from those of ours,” said Ramesh Parajuli, Senior Researcher with Nepal-based NGO Martin Chautari.The protests, led largely by Gen Z activists, escalated after 19 demonstrators were killed on Monday. Clashes injured more than 200 people, with reports of bullet wounds despite official claims that live ammunition had not been authorised. Police used tear gas to disperse crowds, while the Nepali Army was deployed to secure Tribhuvan International Airport, which was shut down due to the violence. According to The Kathmandu Post, protesters also attacked the homes of Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Biswo Paudel, and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak. The immediate trigger was a government-imposed social media ban, lifted late Monday night, but the unrest has since broadened into a movement against alleged corruption and political mismanagement.