COME September 27 (September 28 according to some), India will be commemorating the birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-azam Bhagat Singh. An eternal youth icon, Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary should be an occasion for us to look at the status of youth in our country, the relevance of Bhagat Singh’s ideas, particularly in today’s socio-economic and political situation.

In the past nine months, while the entire world was busy fighting the pandemic and socio-economic conditions exacerbated by it, there were a series of reports released about the status of youth. Starting with the MTV survey (January 2020), to the UN’s World Youth Report (July 2020), these had brought out details of what the youth are thinking, some noteworthy trends prevalent among them and contained certain recommendations for the government and society at large to address the issues/concerns confronting the youth.

Youth, defined as those aged between 15-29 years, constitute 1.21 billion or 15.5 per cent of the global population. Unemployment among the youth is far higher than for adults and ‘estimates dating from before the pandemic suggest that 600 million jobs would have to be created in the next 15 years to meet youth employment needs’. As far as our country is concerned, it was estimated that 1.9 crores salaried, formal economy jobs were lost after the lockdown (CMIE), with as many as 41 lakh youth losing their jobs. A 2017 study pointed out that for the first time since independence, there was an absolute decline in employment between 2013-14 and 2015-16.

Most disturbing among all these numbers is another explosive fact that the number of NEET youth (not to be confused with the entrance examination, but an acronym for Not in Education, Employment or Training) in our country increased from 7 crores (2004-05) to 11.60 crores (2017-18). Add to this another piece of statistics: joblessness among educated youth went up nearly three times, from 6.1 per cent in 2011-12 to 17.8 per cent in 2017-18 – the higher the degree, the more chances of being unemployed. The government had accepted that 33 per cent of our country’s skilled youth are jobless today. No wonder, that many young people surveyed by various agencies categorically stated that unemployment is THE major problem they are confronted with and are discontented about. As many as 46 per cent of Gen Z (those born after 1996) and 44 per cent of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) stated that they are worried about the direction of the economy. YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey (Jun 2020) notes: “Quite a few educated youngsters who backed Modi earlier, now openly express their frustration at the mismanagement of the economy and the constant emphasis on polarising issues”.

These frustrated youth, as Bhagat Singh repeatedly wanted, should be encouraged to study and critically analyse the reasons for their present predicament. The question is, how are the youth dealing/going to deal with this grave situation? Are the youth thinking that the ‘struggle would be futile’, an argument Bhagat Singh says “is usually used as a cover by weak people to avoid participation in every movement”? MTV survey points that the youth are not thinking of struggles as ‘futile’. It states that today’s youth are more action oriented than their predecessors. The previous edition of the MTV survey also pointed out about youth activism, but that was more of arm-chair activism. This year’s survey reported that ‘the attitude has shifted from arm-chair activism to more action oriented activism’ (Emphasis added). Of course, this should not lead us to the conclusion that the tendency is to ‘take to the streets’ or that it indicates an ‘anti-establishment attitude’. But certainly the pointers are moving in that direction.

Discrimination is another issue that the youth are concerned with. 80 per cent of the surveyed youth stated that they were unfairly treated based on their appearance, caste, religion and gender. They also stated that the poorer they are, the more are the chances for being discriminated. More than 50 per cent of the youth whose familial income is less than Rs 25,000 per month stated that they faced discrimination. These youth are angry upon the continuing practices of discrimination and are thinking of social equality. They also think that their economic backwardness is making them more vulnerable to social discrimination.

Majority of the youth, cutting across various generations, identify themselves as secular. They feel that the relations between Hindus and Muslims are moving in a wrong direction. These numbers are particularly high among the Gen Z. Hence, the ‘good news’, as Bhagat Singh commented long ago is, “India's youth are distancing themselves away from such religions which preach hatred and animosity between each other. The youth have become so open-minded that they do not see the people of the country through the prism of religions – as being Hindu, Muslim or Sikh – but see them primarily as humans first and then as Indians. With such kind of thoughts taking root in Indian youth, we know that the future of our country is bright”.

Bhagat Singh had clearly denounced communal forces and exhorted people to build class unity. “Class consciousness is required to ensure that people do not fight among themselves. It has to be made very clear to the poor, working class and peasants that their real enemy is capitalism…. The rights of all the poor – be they of any caste, colour, religion or region – are the same”.

Terming the youth of our country as ‘soldiers of Indian Republic’, Bhagat Singh called upon them to go to ‘every nook and corner of the country and prepare the ground’. The ground he wanted the youth to prepare is for a revolutionary change in the society. “Political revolution will be the basis upon which, the work to transform the whole society on socialist basis should start”. He then goes on to pose the question: “what difference does it make to them (the workers and peasants) whether Lord Reading is the head of the Indian government or Sir Purshotamdas Thakordas? What difference for a peasant if Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru replaces Lord Irwin”! This clearly shows that he is not for a mere change of individuals or parties that are heading the government, but for a thorough change in the class character of the government. The YouGuv-Mint survey states, “there is no evidence that the young see the Congress yet as a credible alternative”. The youth of our country understand that Congress cannot be an alternative for the BJP or vice versa.

The task to bring about a real change, Bhagat Singh said, is no easy task as it requires a ‘life of constant struggle, suffering and sacrifice’. “Crush your individuality first. Shake off the dreams of personal comfort. Then start to work. Inch by inch you have to proceed. It needs courage, perseverance and very strong determination. No difficulties and no hardships shall discourage you. No failure and betrayals shall dishearten you. No travails imposed upon you shall snuff out the revolutionary will in you. Through the ordeal of sufferings and sacrifice you shall come out victorious. And these individual victories shall be the valuable assets of the revolution”.

The youth of our country today are braving many sufferings and putting the fate of our country above their own fate. YouGuv-Mint survey notes: “On questions related to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Article 370, and the protests at Jamia Millia Islamia University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, GenZ voters disagree with the Modi government’s stand. It also indicated that a huge majority of the youth disapproved police action on students. The large-scale participation of youth in anti-CAA protests, in protests against attacks on dalits, minorities, women, democratic rights and livelihood of the people, is a reflection of their disenchantment and anger.

Bhagat Singh warns youth about both the crests and troughs in struggles. “After the present movement ends, you will find disgust and some disappointment amongst the sincere revolutionary workers. But you need not worry. Leave sentimentalism aside. Be prepared to face the facts. Revolution is a very difficult task. It is beyond the power of any man to make a revolution. Nor can it be brought about on any appointed date. It is brought about by special environments, social and economic”.

Bhagat Singh states that it is the task of an ‘organised party’ to utilise ‘any such opportunity’ offered by the circumstances to prepare the masses and organise the forces for the revolution. As Bhagat Singh exhorted, youth should ‘respond to the clarion call of duty’ and the present circumstances should be viewed as both a challenge and an opportunity to prepare the masses and organise the ‘forces of revolution’.

Bhagat Singh called on the youth ‘not to stand easy’ or ‘let their knees tremble’. In his letter to Sukhdev, he wrote: “Neither you nor I, rather none of us, have suffered pain so far. That part of our life has started only now’. For most of the youth in our country too ‘that part of their life has started now’.

As true inheritors of the heroic legacy of Bhagat Singh, time warrants us to join him in stating: “no sacrifice is too great for so magnificent a cause....we await the advent of Revolution. Long Live Revolution.