Indian Youth: A way out of the gargantuan mess of the present

A Nation is an emotion that lives in the hearts of the people who call it their home. It is more than a region on the world map and the citizens play a huge role in the growth or decline of it. A nation is the result of the thoughts of the people's dwelling in it because it's the people who decide what has to be done in their land. It’s these decisions that pave the way for the future of the nation. But being a Pouran(citizen) of the world's largest democracy, we seldom think about the responsibility that lies on the shoulders of the beneficiaries of the future that the nation strives to.

Yes. The Youth of India. The group of people who holds the majority of the population in one of the most populated countries in the world. Indian youth is one of the biggest factions in the world at this moment. The sheer amount of young population in our country exceeds the total population of many world powers. Increase in population density is always seen as a disadvantage to the nation, but if the nation can turn this disadvantage into an advantage or a blessing, the power we would possess would be unimaginable. But we often look over the things that happen in the place we call our home. Majority of Indian youth are sadly ignorant of the changes that are happening to the country. A change which is bound to drag India to a depth of no return.

India is going through a great negative revamp as we speak. The pillars of democracy, put up over the bravery, wisdom and courage of our great leaders in the past, are being torn down. The nation is shifting to a constitutional dictatorship. The parliament is transforming into a mere notice board of the RSS agenda. The peoples’ elections are being trumped by petty horse-trading. The untouchable heights of law enforcement and judiciary have turned to favour those with money and power. The socialistic visions of the country have changed into privatization. The list of changes in the past 6 years goes on. The leadership even went on taking pieces from the books of our previous captors. The infamous British policy of Divide and Rule has manifested itself in the communal hatred being sowed on the land by extreme-right factions. But throughout this, the youth are still asleep. A group of people with the potential to change the whole world at their will, refrain themselves from having a say on their nation.

Just think for a moment about the immense power we hold. The potential to rise as the voice of a new India, where the boundaries put up by castes, religions and regions are brought down by the intellectual and emotional unity of Indian youth. Do you think that’s a far fetched utopian idea? Do you think that you are the first generation striving towards similar goals? What part should youth play during such times? All these questions have an answer. An answer engraved on the great history of India by the golden generation of young freedom fighters of the past.

The youth of India has always been the cautions keepers of the nation. The young generations of the past have been torchbearers to several revolutionary thoughts and ideas in the country. In 1848, a 23-year-old Dadabhai Naoroji founded ’The Student’s Scientific & Historical Society’, which marked the beginning of student movements in the country. The awe-inspiring story of the ‘Derozians’, a student community that sprung up from the Hindu colleges of Bengal in 1928, is often considered as the prime example for the impact of student movements in India. The Derozians inspired and led many colleges around the nation to express their ideas, question the system and to protest against the rule of British and the blind, inhumanly customs and traditions practised under the Hindu and other religions that thrived in the nation. From here youth created a wave of spontaneous impact around the nation like those in the protest against the partition of Bengal, Quit India movement, no tax campaign, swadeshi movement, non-cooperation movement etc, which eventually led to the freedom of India. But the great acts of youth did not end there.The Indian youth continued making impacts even after India gained its independence. The power of the young population even proved to shatter the foundations of a government through the Navnirman Andolan of 1974, where students of Gujarat took matters to the streets against fees hike and corruption of the state government which ended by the resignation of CM Chimanbhai Patel. But in present-day India, students are facing a huge challenge. They are to fight back against the most vicious and corrupted facist government in the modern history of India.

On 15 December 2019. A dark day in the history of India. Peaceful protests of students from the Jamia Milia Islamia University was retaliated by brutal violence of the Delhi Police, even to the extent of getting into the libraries of the campus and beating up students who were in the library referring notes. The statements from responsible peoples representatives that followed the attack on the students were equally condemnable, where they mentioned the students and the university as a group of Anti-Social and Anti-National individuals. Why all this? Because the university became a hub for protest against CAB and NRC bill, a highly intolerant and extremist bill which posed a serious threat to the Muslims in India. The students all over India took to the streets, rallying in support for the victims of the Jamia Milia Attack. The Millennials led what was their first major intervention in the political hierarchy of India. A fact to be noted is that the university of so-called “Anti-socials” produced around 30 civil servants this year alone and was ranked No.1 in central Universities. The University holds renowned high standards and high placements from top MNC’s around the globe. The infamous watchdog media’s rallying behind the ruling party of India even went to the depth of labelling the UPSC crackers of Jamia as Jihadi’s.

This above instance alone can dictate the intolerance, fear and hate of the government and the right-wing fascist groups that control the government hold against the youth in India and their collective voice. And that fear and hatred can be used as a tool to destroy the fascist regime that rules and destroys our very precious country. We may have been brought up in different religious backgrounds, in different traditions, but as you grow in knowledge and experience, we must open our eyes and realize that time moves on. Imagine the guilt we would possess when we would retrospect one day about the times we spent wasting on irrelevant things when our own country was plunging into a point of no return. The Great Indian Vision was passed on to us, to be fulfilled by us and to pass on a happy, prosperous and lively nation to our coming generations.

To all those people who think that these do not matter to them. How long will you survive without a happy society? How long can you turn a blind eye to the events that unfold around you? What if you fall prey to the very problem that you ignore now? What if you go down into the dark events of society? By the time realisation dawns, it might be too late. So this is the right time to act.

We should be the first to protest, agitate and express. A young citizen must be sensitive and aware of his society and should have the guts to question wrongdoing. Just remember this. We are the ones who should live out our lives in the nation we call our home. This isn’t for anyone else but us, for a bright tomorrow, together with friends, family and humans. To enjoy without the barriers of religion, caste, region or colour to separate us. The power was always with us, it was built from us, and for us. If not ourselves, who else will stand for us?