Despite making up about half of the population, young people between ages 18 to 40 often find themselves marginalized from mainstream politics and decision making in Nagaland. They struggle to gain the respect of elders and are seen as lacking the skills and experience to engage in political activity or lead positive change in the community.
This exclusion, combined with limited economic opportunities, can leave young people both idle and frustrated. There is no ecosystem to support young people to channel their energy, creativity and aspirations and become political leaders and activists.
Today’s youth need real opportunities to participate in political processes and contribute to practical solutions that advance development. Young people should be given an opportunity to organize, voice their opinions and play a meaningful role in political decision making.
It is also incumbent upon the young people themselves to rise up to the occasion and make their presence felt instead of waiting for the elders to offer them a place at the table.
It is observed that one of the main reasons why young people are not participating in meaningful political discourse is because of limited education, limited experience and lack of exposure to positive examples of civic engagement, including role models in the community.
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, are both just 36. Likewise, the national leaders of Chad, Mali, Georgia, Turkmenistan, El Salvador, and New Zealand are 41 or younger.
Even in India, there are youngsters like Arun Verma who became an MLA at just 25 in Uttar Pradesh in 2012. Chandrani Murmu is another example. She was elected Lok Sabha MP from Odisha in 2019 at just 26 years of age. It will be interesting to see if any political party in Nagaland has ever in its history fielded a 25-year old candidate in any election.
The general practice in Nagaland is that the political parties use the young people as expendables or disposables, just like single use plastics – a use and throw item. Sadly, the young people on their own part seem to not realize their worth.
Of course, there are young people active in institutional politics like elections and membership of a political party but they are mostly ‘part workers’ at best, merely a cog in the machine.
Unless the youth are given the opportunity, or rather, unless the youth take it upon themselves to step up and rise to the occasion to have themselves represented in mainstream politics and decision making, the status quo will remain.