Protesting doesn’t make Gen Z anti-national

I feel that the new generation – Gen Z and Gen Alpha – is more honest than our current generation, and they genuinely respond to appeals regarding patriotism and service. If you ask me to trust blindly, I’ll trust Gen Z — RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Mumbai: The Gen Z is ‘apne log (our people)’ and if they are protesting their concerns should be addressed, underscored RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat participating in one of the world’s largest youth-led conferences on Thursday.

“If the Gen Z is agitating, they certainly aren’t anti-nationals; they are our own people, our next generation,” Bhagwat said at the conference titled ‘The Role of Youth in Uniting the World, the Indian Way’.

The 75-year-old RSS chief said he won’t say that Gen Z should not protest, but in a democracy, there are ways of going about it. “I feel that the new generation – Gen Z and Gen Alpha – is more honest than our current generation, and they genuinely respond to appeals regarding patriotism and service,” Bhagwat said. “If you ask me to trust blindly, I’ll trust Gen Z,” Bhagwat said, throwing his weight behind them.

Statting that Gen Z is emotional, imitative and responds to what it perceives as genuine, Bhagwat observed that today’s youth view authority figures as equals or friends, adding that questioning authority has always been a part of adolescence. Stating that “education is not a commercial business”, he said it should be “structured in such a way that it is available for all” and that “society should also contribute to improving status of education”.

Bhagwat urged parents to lead by example instead of blaming the younger generation, saying many of the challenges children face today stem from adults’ own behaviour. When asked about incidents during protests where young people were allegedly subjected to lathi charges and pellet gun firing, Bhagwat said he didn’t have complete information but if he had to pick a side, he would place his faith in Gen Z.

The remarks come days after student protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, in the heart of Delhi forced the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the undergraduate medical entrance exam paper leaks.

More than half of India’s population of 1.4 billion consists of those younger than 35, and Gen Z is expected to form one of the largest voting blocs by the time the general election is held in 2029.