Dear Gen Z of India,
Starting with a big thanks to you for the courage you’ve shown over the last couple of weeks. You have proven many people wrong, broken many notions and rewritten the rules of public discourse.
As a millennial myself, I’ve no shame in accepting that we didn’t consider Gen Z capable of doing something worthwhile. Always on the phone, doom scrolling, caring about nothing more than Instagram aesthetics, indiscipline and laziness, and too weak to stand when things get tough… These were the words that automatically came to our minds whenever we heard “Gen Z”.
In the last few days, you have proved that you can stand the tough times we escaped from. You do have boundaries and you can fight for them unlike us.
Maybe, we have not seen Gen Z engaging in war of words in X or discussing political issues in groups. And we thought your silence was disinterest or even indifference. But, you were absorbing what was happening, you didn’t waste energy in daily futile arguments. You preserved it and used it when it mattered the most.
As someone who was vocal on political events from 2012 to late 2016, this is nothing less than a watershed moment for me. We were among the first generation to experience organised trolling at the behest of the current regime.
We criticised the emperor and we were anti-national. We questioned the policies and we were urban naxal. We talked about radicalization of a religion and we were told to go to Pakistan. We talked about the environment and we were tagged deep state agents. And the list goes on.
We couldn’t fight it. Purely because our voice on X (then Twitter) didn’t translate to the voice on the roads. Many of us were scared, let’s accept that. Many were complacent. And most of us eventually gave up. Our ambition was to be so successful that one day we can leave this country.
NEET paper leak was indeed at the core of it sparked like a wildfire because the government responded arrogantly, dismissing any question raised at them, ministers walking like twenty students committing suicide wasn’t a big concern for them and unbothered attitude that they carried.
Every movement eventually finds someone who gives scattered frustration a direction. For this one, that person was Abhijeet Dipke.
He could have settled comfortably in the United States and built a fulfilling life far away from this chaos. Instead, he chose to come back, stand in front of a government many considered untouchable, carry the Constitution in one hand, Ambedkar in the other and remind an entire generation that dissent doesn’t require violence to become powerful.
Whatever history eventually writes about this movement, his role in igniting it deserves to be remembered. And yes, I’m going to shamelessly claim a tiny victory for millennials for he happens to be one of us.
In the last month or so, you’ve shown the people in power that the power of people is greater than them. When people have had enough, they will take whatever you throw at them and still fight for their rights. You didn’t flinch before lathi charge. You didn’t run away when water cannons were unleashed. You didn’t cry when tear gas was used on you. And you didn’t slide away when arrests were made.
You turned memes and Instagram so smartly that the mighty forces could not defeat. What was presumed to be insurmountable seemed not so difficult anymore. Your determination and agility overpowered the government’s tactics.
Probably, many of you may never have read Gandhi in depth or considered yourselves admirers of his politics. Yet your movement embodied his most enduring lesson far better than many who invoke his name every year. You proved, once again, that when every other path appears closed, Gandhi’s idea of non-violent resistance still remains one of the most powerful forces in a democracy. You brought Gandhi back to main discourse.
And that said, you and I all know that though a battle is won, the struggle is far from over. The protest may have achieved its goals but protecting democracy is a never-ending process. The fight is endless to keep governments on their toes.
They must be scared to the core before taking its people for granted. Let the power know that it is not invincible. If people revolt, muscle and machinery cannot save it.
To the protesters on the ground and on the internet, you may have a lot of eyes on you now. Let’s not be under any delusion that this is over. You have hurt the ego of people who thought they are above ordinary people. And they are still enjoying power.
We will be monitored, surveilled and maybe, even targeted. The very platforms that gave birth to this protest will have a tough time balancing between trolls and real users, between people and power, between intimidation and freedom.
But for now, celebrate this moment.
You have learnt lessons about democracy that no classroom could have taught you. Those lessons, earned on the streets, will stay with you for the rest of your lives.
My generation slowly learnt to dream of leaving this country because we had quietly accepted that nothing would change. I sincerely hope yours does the exact opposite.
I hope you build a country that is worth staying in, worth fighting for and worth passing on.
Till then, vastegunahuiya!!!
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