Tick, tick ... boom

Zarrar Khuhro, writing in Dawn, argues that revolutions are set off by small sparks rather than the deep grievances that make them inevitable. He points to Bangladesh, where a minor job-quota dispute toppled Sheikh Hasina's fifteen-year rule, and Nepal, where a September twenty twenty-five ban on social media platforms ignited protests over elite privilege that forced a prime minister's resignation within days. Dawn notes he also cites India's exam-leak protests and Russia's 1905 Bloody Sunday march as further cases where state overreaction turned grievance into uprising. His conclusion: address discontent early, since a strategy that worked before offers no guarantee against backfiring.

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