The turmoil that was witnessed in different parts of the country this entire month had a completely youthful face. The people who were waving swords and many other weapons in the processions were also young and those who were raising derogatory slogans were also young. The people arrested by the police in all the cases are also youths. If we want, we can blame some political parties, organizations and groups for all this, along with it it can be argued that all these leaders are not youth and they are just making their owls straight through the youth, But if this number of youth is available to them to show their aggression on the streets, then the matter becomes even more serious. A related question is why such youth are available only to certain types of forces?
To see another aspect of this, we have to go to France, where Emmanuel Macron, who is contesting the presidential election for the second time in the past, went ahead in the first phase. When that poll was analyzed in terms of population, many interesting things emerged. It was found that if only the votes of the youth were counted, Macron would have come in third place. The youth’s choice was the extremists on both the left and the right, rather than the centrist Macron. Commenting on this, a magazine wrote that Emmanuel Macron was ranked first by those whose hair has either turned white or those who have lost their hair. France is one of those countries in the world where a large part of the population has now crossed the age of youth.
But France is not the only country where young and mature people see their political future in completely different ways. The same trend has been shown in the elections of many countries like Germany, Italy and Spain. To some extent, the same has happened in the US and the UK. An analysis of the ages of those who stormed Capitol Hill after Donald Trump lost the election tells a similar story.
There is no surprise in this either. Those who are dependent on the pension from the government, who have to pay various types of installments or who are burdened with other responsibilities of the family, their thinking will be different from the new crop of the new age, in which there are many kinds of restlessness and Those who have not yet received much care from the world. It has always been happening.
A century ago, when the world seemed to be moving towards the Left, there was a joke all over the world, and especially in Europe. The joke was that if one does not turn left by the age of 18, he should see a doctor, that is, a psychiatrist, and if one becomes leftist after the age of 50, he should also see a doctor. It has also been said that revolutions occupy power only by riding on the shoulders of youth. The same story can be read in India’s freedom struggle as well. The entire revolution movement after independence is considered to be a completely youth movement.
The world has changed a lot in the past century. Especially in those countries, where democracy and its institutions have established a strong foothold. The biggest feature of democracy is that it gives full opportunities to any kind of opposition within itself to be expressed and organized and covered. When the young people of France are dissatisfied with the government’s policies and the restlessness of change haunts them, they vote extensively to defeat Macron. Their votes either fall behind the ultra-nationalist right-wing party or they are attracted to the socialists who still have a place for themselves in the politics of Western Europe. From time to time, they also become a part of movements and demonstrations for various demands, but they do not come out on the streets waving swords. Not even when, despite all efforts, Emmanuel fails to oust Macron from power. They do not raise slogans against any community, nor do they try to get the momentary pleasure of hoisting a flag on a building. His activism does not emerge as a line of concern on the face of France.
The number of young people in France is not enough to change the government on the strength of their votes. Yet there is no dissatisfaction among them that they should try any more aggressive path apart from democracy. On the contrary, the number of youth in our entire population is so much that they can topple any government on their own and put anyone in power. They are doing this too. Nevertheless, their coming out on the streets waving swords points to some big disturbances in our entire system and society.
Looking at America, Europe and many other countries, we often say that the world is now going to the right. But in any democracy, the attitude of the right wing is not seen as we are seeing here at the moment. It used to be a rarity in the past, but it was marginal then, but now it has made its way into the mainstream and appears in a new form every other day. All this is happening at a time when the systems to support it are increasing continuously and efforts to beat it are not visible much. Why is the country celebrating the elixir of freedom looking helpless in the face of the spread of a poison? And yes, it is also important to see how much remains to be done for the world we take so much pride in being the largest democracy.
(These are the author’s own views)