DC Edit | Aug. 15: Spirit Of India’s Youth Reignites Optimism

As the nation slips into its 80th year of Independence, the pomp and grandeur of celebration at the historic Red Fort is bound to lead to reflection of what has been achieved by a free India and what must be done to leave the nation a better place for the youth of today who have found voice to state what is wrong with the establishment.

What they have in terms of the right to protest today is part of the freedom generations of yesteryear fought for. What they have exposed in their demonstrativeness is the toxic political environment which has permeated the very culture of a political class that is so self-absorbed as to have become a burden on the system.

The anxieties of what tomorrow will bring may weigh heavily on younger generations even as we celebrate where India has reached in her 79-year journey in terms of economic heft, social stability in a diverse country and progress into the most modern era. As we go forward, what will be achieved will come despite the narcissistic netas and not because of them.

It is a misfortune that the wars being fought by major powers cramped India’s bull run as an economy that seemed headed towards the third largest in the world. The geopolitical pressures may have been handled well enough not to leave India scarred by rising prices of petroleum and other goods and essentials, but the journey forward is going to be that much harder because of what is still happening in Iran, Ukraine, Gaza and the waterways of the world.

What India may not have done enough towards defusing may have been the friction points surrounding issues in Kashmir, Manipur and the Northeast, for which the blame should be borne by the powers that be choosing to let the problems fester rather than take bold decisions in the interest of the people concerned.

The drift shows the light on the political class as a whole much as the student protests did in exposing not only the ruling party at the Centre but also the one in Jharkhand where brutal treatment meted out to the youth betrayed a clear lack of understanding of what they were protesting about, which was about their future welfare.

The abjuring of violence is a responsibility that all the people of India bear and which is the least they can do for a nation that attained Independence through a satyagraha movement rather than a street revolution. The students who have rightly pointed out the faults in the exam and recruitment systems, which are bound to have a direct bearing on their careers and lives, would do well to remember that any damage they inflict is to their own country.

As a land of not so equal opportunities, India sees its economic disparities further exposed by the steady rise in the cost-of-living, but this is a universal phenomenon affecting the richest countries as well as the poorest. Neither the ruling party nor the Opposition has any worthwhile ideas about mitigation.

The quality of leadership may have to improve manifold if India is to cope with the startling pace of change in the world with AI disrupting traditional ways of working and living. The brightest silver lining is the innovativeness of youth that is so apparent in the technical and entrepreneurial skills displayed by the emerging smart generation in a land that boasts of lakhs of startups that are shaking up things in an increasingly digital world in which to be globally competitive is the key to success.

The youth aspire to build an ecosystem that is far more liberal and inclusive therein raising optimism about free India on Independence Day.