Some of the most pressing issues confronting Naga society today are the protracted Naga political question, electoral malpractice, corruption, unemployment and economic underdevelopment. For those born after the turn of the century, these are burdens they did not create but are destined to inherit.
The older generation has failed them in many ways. The consequences may extend beyond economics and politics. Growing up amid prolonged uncertainty and institutional dysfunction could leave a collective imprint on how this generation understands society, authority and its own future.
Consider the Naga political question. Babies born after the NSCNs entered into ceasefire agreements are now graduating from college. For them, the conflict is not a lived experience but something inherited from an earlier generation. It is therefore natural that their understanding of the issue may differ from that of those who experienced its most turbulent years.
Worldwide, Gen Z is described as the first generation of digital natives, having grown up with smartphones, social media and the internet. Our Gen Z, however, has grown up amid considerable development deficits. The term “digital natives” may not fully describe them. They may instead be described as “corruption natives,” having grown up surrounded by the all-pervasive corruption in our society.
They have grown up seeing corruption discussed as a fact of public life. They have watched elections shaped by money and influence, while unemployment has been so persistent that it risks becoming normalised. Economic underdevelopment, meanwhile, limits the choices available to them. That is the troubling inheritance.
The older generation must own up to this inheritance. It is not enough to tell Gen Z to work harder, adapt better or find its own way in a society already burdened by problems it did not create. We have to acknowledge that we have failed them and that continuing on the same path will only pass the burden further down.
There is still time for a change of course. But it requires the courage to confront the failures that have been normalised, to clean up the institutions we have weakened and to create opportunities that do not force the next generation to leave in search of a future.
Gen Z deserves more than an explanation for why things went wrong. It deserves something worth inheriting.
The responsibility rests with the generation that came before them. Before it is too late, we must ask ourselves what we are leaving behind and whether our children can inherit it with pride.