Dhaka, Sept. 19 -- Two weeks ago, I wrote a column in these pages using the term "Banglanesia" to metaphorically describe the connections between the Bangladesh uprising of 2024 and the Indonesian one of 2025. This column uses the term "Sribanglapal" to suggest a further continuity, that between Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal (but not Indonesia), Nepal being the latest country in South Asia where mass protests have resulted in the violent overthrow of the existing system after Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh last year. "Sribanglapal" is of course a neologism that I am coining, but it sounds so Bengali, almost like the name of a newborn.

In all three South Asian countries, serving leaders have fallen from power in the face of a gatherin...