India’s young generation stands at a critical juncture. The ideas, personalities and movements that influence young minds today will inevitably shape the country’s political, social and cultural future tomorrow. In an age of social media activism, viral campaigns and Gen Z movements, it is therefore important to ask a fundamental question: Whom are our young people choosing as their icons, and what values are these icons inspiring them to uphold?
Some recent developments surrounding youth-led protests have raised serious questions about the direction in which sections of India’s younger generation are being guided. Protests in a democracy are legitimate, and young citizens have every right to question the government, demand accountability and raise concerns about their future. However, democratic dissent must not become an excuse to undermine the institutions that safeguard the nation One particularly concerning aspect of the ongoing discourse is the choice of certain personalities as youth icons.
Figures such as Neha Bora, Sourav Das and Abhijit Dipke, who have expressed admiration for individuals like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, deserve closer scrutiny. Sharjeel Imam, a former JNU student, had called for severing Assam and the Northeast from the rest of India in a speech delivered at an anti-CAA meeting in Aligarh on 16 January 2020. Neha Bora once remarked, “We learn activism here by looking at Umar Khalid. This JNU belongs to Umar Khalid.”
Such statements raise an important question: what kind of role models are being presented to India’s youth? At this moment, it is worth revisiting the lives and thoughts of two extraordinary personalities from India’s freedom struggle; Sri Aurobindo and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Their understanding of Bharat offers a remarkable contrast to the superficial political symbolism that frequently dominates contemporary youth discourse. On 30 August 1905, Sri Aurobindo wrote a deeply moving letter to his wife, Mrinalini Devi. He was approximately 33 years old at the time. His words reflected an extraordinary sense of national commitment.
He wrote: “Whereas others look upon their country as an inert object, a stretch of fields, plains, forests, mountains and rivers, I know my country as the Mother, I adore Her, I worship Her. If a demon sits on the Mother’s breast, ready to drink her blood, what does the son do? Does he sit down to a peaceful meal, does he sit down to amuse himself with his wife and children, or does he rush to the Mother’s rescue?” He further explained that his weapon would not be a sword or a gun but the power of knowledge.
These words reveal something essential about the relationship between individual ambition and national responsibility. For Sri Aurobindo, patriotism was not a convenient political slogan or a temporary emotional response. It was a profound civilisational commitment. He believed that intellectual awakening, knowledge and national consciousness could become powerful instruments for the regeneration of Bharat.
Now, let us turn to another remarkable personality, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. During 1912–1913, when he was approximately fifteen years old, the young Subhas was already developing a profound understanding of his motherland. In a letter originally written in Bengali to his mother during this period, he expressed his reverence for Bharat in deeply spiritual terms: “Revered mother, India is God’s beloved land.
He has been born in this great land in every age in the form of the Saviour for the enlightenment of the people, to rid this earth of sin and to establish righteousness and truth in every Indian heart. He has come into being in many countries in human form but not so many times in any other country. That is why I say, India, our motherland, is God’s beloved land.”
The significance of these words lies not merely in their religious sentiment but in the consciousness of a young individual who viewed his motherland as something far greater than a geographical territory. Bharat represented a spiritual and civilisational inheritance, carrying a responsibility to uphold righteousness and truth.
The same young Subhas would eventually emerge as one of the most determined leaders of India’s freedom struggle, inspiring thousands through the call of Jai Hind and the establishment of the Azad Hind Fauj. Consider the contrast. Sri Aurobindo, at approximately thirty-three, understood national service as a sacred mission. Subhas Chandra Bose, at approximately fifteen, already viewed Bharat through the lens of an extraordinary civilisational consciousness.
Their political approaches and methods were different, but their commitment to the motherland was unquestionable. And now, consider the fifteen-year-olds of today, the generation that represents the beginning of Gen Z. What ideas are shaping their understanding of India? Who are they following, whose speeches are they sharing, and what values are they absorbing from their digital icons?
Are they being encouraged to read India’s history, understand its civilisational heritage, respect its national institutions and develop independent intellectual abilities? Or are they increasingly becoming consumers of fragmented political narratives, social media outrage and personalities whose popularity is measured by their ability to provoke? The responsibility does not lie with young people alone.
We cannot expect young Indians to develop historical consciousness if they are disconnected from the country’s freedom struggle and its great thinkers. India certainly needs questioning young minds. It needs students who challenge injustice, demand better educational opportunities, question administrative failures and participate actively in democratic processes.
But it also needs young people who understand that freedom comes with responsibility and that dissent must coexist with national commitment. Dear Indian youths, do not choose your icons merely because they are trending on social media or because their speeches generate applause. Read Sri Aurobindo. Understand Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Explore Swami Vivekananda, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and countless other personalities who dedicated their lives to a greater national cause. The future of Bharat requires fearless questioning, intellectual independence and democratic participation. Choose your icons wisely, because the people you admire today may shape the Bharat you build tomorrow.
*The author is Jagran Josh Awardee 2023, A columnist and writer, Authored five books.
