Three South Asian governments in four years have been dislodged by young people in the street. There was Colombo 2022, Dhaka 2024, Kathmandu 2025. Over the last week in Delhi, a satirical movement that took its name from a judge’s purported insult has drawn thousands of supporters to its protest to press for the resignation of the education minister, who is blamed for mismanaging a key public examination. Describing this phenomenon as “generational” explains nothing. In Delhi, the movement’s most visible figure is 59-year-old Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on hunger strike since June 28. In Kathmandu, parents had marched with their children.Age describes who is on the road. It does not explain why the road is full.Four conditions do. India meets three.The ladderThe first condition is educated unemployment at scale. India produces five million graduates a year and finds work for 2.8 million. The percentage of graduates among unemployed Indians aged 20 to 29 rose from 46% to 67% between 2017 and 2023.The de-linking of education and employment reverses the bargain these states have sold for two generations, the one families paid for by selling land and taking on debt.The Cockroach Janta Party has been demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the leak that cancelled May’s NEET-UG medical college exams after 2.27 million candidates had sat it. The The Indian Express counted 48 leaked papers across 16 states in five years, affecting 15 million applicants competing for 120,000 government jobs. Parliament passed a law to eliminate paper leaks in 2024. The 2026 paper leaked anyway.For a family without money, that exam is the only way into a profession, and the paper keeps being sold to someone else first.— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) July 20, 2026