November 12, 2024 could go down as a critical date in the history of Bhutan, the small nation on the eastern edge of the Himalaya Mountains. That’s when Students For Liberty turned the tide there by hosting a workshop in Thimpu, Bhutan. This breakthrough event for SFL generated 29 applications to our Student Leadership Program by introducing students to how the ideas of liberty apply to the climate and to young people — in Bhutan and throughout the world.
The series of three distinct sessions had 74 participants and reached more than 10,000 people on Instagram through video views. It also encouraged those in attendance to express their individuality — something Bhutan’s culture does not often do — through song. Two of those students proved themselves exceptional, and worthy of attending the Nepal/Bhutan Student Leader Retreat in February 2025.
Speaking of Nepal, when the communist ruling party there sought to impose a new bill to make social media posts “against national sovereignty or interest” punishable with fines and jail time, SFL Nepal leapt into action. It hosted a panel discussion that gave a platform for experts, policymakers, and legal professionals to examine the bill’s impact on digital rights.
Also in Nepal, Liberty Week attracted 160 students and included a panel of ministers who spoke about the differences between monarchies and republics. And the Entrepreneurs’ Talk Show on May 20, 2025, in Surkhet, a municipality of more than 400,000 people, hosted three speakers, including the president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).
During the event, one participant received a job offer directly from the FNCCI. Two other participants were hired for internships at AG Venture, a startup specializing in compost-based fertilizers and dairy farming. These hires exemplify Students For Liberty’s long-term planning: We educate passionate young people about the ideas of liberty and then help them find respectable and influential positions in their cities and towns.
In what is officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, South Asia Students For Liberty hosted its Top Leadership Retreat for 36 of our best student leaders. They learned about project management, local fundraising, and communicating classical liberalism.
That training paid dividends immediately, in the form of the Lens of Liberty 2024 event, whose theme was “Let Your Lens Tell the Story of Freedom.” It was a photography contest and exhibition organized by SFL Sri Lanka, funded in part by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Held at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the event showcased 50 entries and attracted 240 attendees who discovered the values of individual expression through the art of photography.
Also in Sri Lanka, SFL’s Namini Panditha led a successful challenge in the Supreme Court. (See more in our Feature Stories section.) In 2022, her organization, the Liberal Youth Movement, challenged the State’s use of emergency powers to quell public demonstrations by filing a petition to argue that “crisis” regulations to suppress dissent were unconstitutional. Although the fight took three years, it was worth the effort. On July 23, 2025, a majority of the three-judge bench ruled that the emergency regulations violated the Constitution!
Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, our team received 704 applications to the Local Coordinator Program (176% of its target) and hosted a 120-student event, paid for in full by fundraising, called “Liberty in Learning: A New Era for Students,” focusing on the history of student movements in the country. And in India, SFL volunteer Rida Ahmed delivered a mainstage session at the Asia Liberty Forum. Namini Panditha from Sri Lanka (see above) won the competitive Think Tank Shark Tank prize there.