Context: In 2019, Hong Kong experienced its largest and most sustained pro-democracy protests since the 1997 handover from Britain to China. Triggered by a proposed extradition bill that would have allowed transfers to mainland China, the movement escalated into a broader demand for democratic reform, police accountability, and protection of Hong Kong's autonomy under the "one country, two systems" framework. The protests mobilised an estimated 2 million people (in a city of 7.4 million) at their peak, and lasted over seven months. China responded in June 2020 by imposing the National Sec
Context: In December 2019, the Indian Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) , which for the first time introduced religion as a criterion for Indian citizenship by offering fast-track naturalisation to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan while explicitly excluding Muslims . Combined with the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), the policy was seen as a deliberate attempt to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims. The legislation triggered the largest protests in India since independence ,
Context: On 16 September 2022, Mahsa (Zhina) Amini , a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died in the custody of Iran's morality police after being detained for allegedly violating mandatory hijab rules. Her death triggered the most significant protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution , with demonstrations spreading to all 31 provinces and lasting over four months. The movement adopted the Kurdish slogan "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" (Woman, Life, Freedom) and was distinguished by the central role of women and girls, some as young as 15, who removed their headscarves in public, cut their h