In 1965, Lal Bahadur Shastri gave us the famous slogan “Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan!.” This slogan came about in the context of India-Pakistan war, but even today the slogan holds true in a country like India which has one of the youngest populations in the world; jawan here being the youth, young population of India which needs to be acknowledged. India is considered to be an emerging super power but is it possible to emerge as one and fulfil its prophecy if it continues to keep its youth at bay from issues of decision making? It is very important to harness the energy, creativity, enthusiasm and the intellect of the youth to give this nation a more meaningful future and change the regressive and archaic status quo that it is existing in.
My space – My unManifesto (mobilising youth)
The archaic status of this country can be see through the decision of not repealing Article 377 of the IPC by the two government institutions, legislature and judiciary. In both these institutions, the youth is highly under represented. This is only one of the many examples where lack of youth representation has reflected the conservativeness of the Indian society. The current average age of an Indian parliamentarian is between 53-60 years. One can look around and say that Indian parliamentarians are as old as this independent nation itself. The notion that young people are immature and lack knowledge is misleading but this is only one side of the story.
The other story is from the perspective of the youth of India who have been made to believe that politics is a ‘dirty game’ which corrupts an individual absolutely. This idea has been rooted in the minds of young people with the belief that politics is an act performed in the public sphere, whereas the private sphere is devoid of it. The need of the hour is to make the youth understand and experience politics as an act of decision making, responsibility sharing and accountability, which exists in every sphere of life, from simple relationships between friends to very complicated ones between countries. The indifference of youngsters towards politics and the contemptuousness of political leaders towards the youth of the country has created chasms that need to be filled desperately for an overall development of the nation, which is sustainable.
The attempt to bridge this gap, to fill this chasm and change society has emerged in the guise of the programme, My Space – My unManifesto. The programme collectivises the youth from different parts of the country, for decision making at a political front through the formulation of a youth manifesto. The motive behind this initiative is to make the youth rethink about the nation and their responsibility towards making this an inclusive country. This programme is an offshoot of a mega concept, to make youth responsible towards themselves and the society, called the 5th Space.
It is a sphere which is created by the youth, led and focused by them which promotes learning of the youth from self to society. This journey from self-exploration to bringing social change in the society is a complete one, but this is only possible if the youth are provided with alternative spaces where experience and age don’t dictate terms. 5th Space is an alternate space which not only engages young people in a journey, but accentuates on learning through the process of self-exploration. This is why the programme exhorts the youth to look and evaluate the nation by examining personal spaces, as politics exist as much in the private spaces of family, friends and fun as it does in Parliament.
Youth as stakeholders in society
The programme is trying to promote youth as every day politicians where the responsibility towards the nation doesn’t end with elections, but continues at an individual level to constantly voice themselves – on burning issues that need attention like corruption, Article 377, and ones that need to be changed like AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act). The ‘un’ in the programme name symbolises the unbirthdays in Alice in Wonderland, where she is asked to celebrate everyday as her birthday and not one particular day.
The programme is working on-ground through workshops where young people are made to think of themselves as stake holders in the society, which in turn makes them responsible towards it. From this activity, emerges promises of the youth which later get collated into a manifesto to be presented to the parliamentarians. Similarly, there are online platforms for the programme where the youth directly register their promises.These promises are varied and have been collected through a diverse youth group from different parts of the country. They are both specific to the region and for the nation in general, for the upcoming Lok Sabha 2014 elections. The programme has reached out even to people in remote areas as that of Jharkhand and marginalised communities like sex workers – for empowerment, recognition as citizens, and for stronger welfare policies. These promises are not lopsided and do not have vested interests, but have encompassed those who have been left out of the mainstream politics.
The demands have been in all spheres – a better education system with stronger emphasis on implementation of Right to Education (RTE), demanding safe public spaces for women with greater emphasis on fighting violence against women, voicing the need for good-quality 24 hour hospitals in remote rural areas, the requirement of passing the 33 percent reservation for youth and women in the Parliament, the urgency of passing the Jan Lokpal bill to curb corruption, the dire need of providing unemployment wages to people above the age of 21, and not just demanding legalisation of sex work but also providing sex workers with health benefits and pensions.
Yes, all of these demands have been articulated by young minds of this nation. They have raised these promises for a better future and not just for immediate needs. It would be incorrect to perceive youth demands to be constrained only to issues of education and employment, because when given a chance to speak up, youth perceive themselves in the larger context of society and therefore demand promises that not only change the face of society but also delve into structural causes.
The idea of empowerment, justice, equality and integrity has surfaced through each and every demand presented by the youth of this nation. Sugandha, head of Priyadarshini, an organisation that works to empower women at the grassroot level and an unManifesto ambassador, states how young women in the small town of Muzaffarnagar have seen this programme as an opportunity for self-development. The women demanded strict punishment against those who demand and accept dowry. They also wanted a ban on the sale of alcohol in the villages, as it leads to domestic violence. While these issues require immediate action, these are the same issues facing women in large urban societies as well. Similarly, Jenpu Rongmei, who heads Young’s Club, an organisation that empowers the youth in Nagaland, talked about the struggle of getting students involved in a programme where political disillusionment is at its peak. To overcome this, he suggested that, “in conflict ridden areas one has to appeal to youth in a manner that fits their culture. Therefore, in this situation, with some help of the university students we came up with comic strips, based on real life stories that carried issues that occur in the region. Youth responded to these strips and began to raise demands which were fed into the youth manifesto.”
Thus, the problems are not with the youth’s understanding of the nation and its problems but the lack of spaces for learning, understanding and articulating their positions. The unManifesto experience shows that if given an opportunity, youth can mobilise and raise issues that are more visionary than the ones that politicians promise, keeping in mind the vote bank. Youth think of the future before thinking of immediate needs and therefore have the potential to make the nation what the forefathers and foremothers of India have been striving to do. As the programme ends with the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the youth of the nation are becoming active citizens who, in future, will evaluate everyday decision making as a political act having consequences rather as a personal act of interest.
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Shivani Gupta
The writer is a media advocate working with Community Media Network in Commutiny – the Youth Collective (CYC).[/column]