The recent mobilisation of young people, its rapid spread through social media and the question of whether it reflects broader youth discontent or particular political and ideological interests were discussed at a session titled “Ideology vs Scepticism: What Do Young People Believe” at the Odisha Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar today, with speakers differing over whether the movement represents a coherent political force or a fragmented expression of distrust in established institutions.
Senior journalist Ashutosh argued that the response to the movement reflected genuine anger among young people. He pointed to the speed with which the campaign gained traction online and said its emergence reflected disillusionment with established institutions and political power.
He linked the mobilisation to anger over the government’s handling of the education system and paper leaks, as well as its response to the protests. He said the detention of Sonam Wangchuk and the police action against protesters helped turn what had been a “murmuring” movement into a larger one.
“Why are the cockroaches unhappy today? You have a government which believes in macho nationalism, which believes in very powerful governance and a strong system of governance. If, after 12 years, that government, led by one of the smartest politicians this country has ever produced, Narendra Modi, had to sacrifice one of its ministers, that itself tells the story of how strong the movement was and how far it has reached. Today, each and every house in the country has got one cockroach,” Ashutosh said.
Prafulla Ketkar, editor of Organiser, questioned the idea that any single movement could claim to speak for an entire generation. He pointed to the diversity of political and social views among young Indians, arguing that online visibility should not automatically be treated as evidence of wider representation.
The conversation also touched on the influence of social media algorithms, changing patterns of information consumption and the difficulty of applying fixed ideological labels to a generation growing up with unprecedented access to competing viewpoints.
“I always say there is a lot of space in India between being anti-BJP, anti-RSS and being pro-BJP, pro-RSS. The real solutions lie there. Unfortunately, people think in binaries. The moment I am the editor of Organiser, I am labelled an RSS mouthpiece. If I speak or write about the student protests, I’m seen as being on the government’s side, even though I have written against the existing systems,” Ketkar said.
The session ultimately returned to the question of representation: whether the political expression visible online reflects a wider youth consciousness, or only one part of a much more fragmented generation.
