The 80th celebration of India’s independence on August 15, 2026, is themed “150 Years of Vande Mataram” and “Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047”.
The theme “Yuva Shakti”, merely as a slogan and a strategy to counter the youth’s power and loud, fearless voice, would therefore boomerang
The 80th celebration of India’s independence on August 15, 2026, is themed “150 Years of Vande Mataram” and “Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047”. In Nagaland, the Naga Students’ Federation and all its federating student bodies boycotted the Independence Day celebrations and asked students not to participate in the celebrations because of the compulsory rendition of “Vande Mataram”. The Nagaland Baptist Churches Council has also opposed the same. It is strongly felt here that the directive for the compulsory rendition of the song at all government programmes violates the freedom of religion and secularism enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Nagaland is a Christian-majority state. Article 371(A) of the Indian Constitution also protects Nagaland’s cultural, social and religious freedoms.
Now, “Yuva Shakti” (youth power). It is both appropriate and ironic. Appropriate because the strength, capacity and dynamism of youth power have never been in doubt. We saw that recently in the denting of the perceived invincibility of the BJP government. Recall also just one tweet — “What if all legal cockroaches get together?” — by the CJP Convener vis-à-vis the Bar Council of India Chairman’s now-withdrawn directive concerning NALSAR graduating students’ opposition to the CJI’s invitation to their convocation as Chief Guest, which had the CJI scurrying to damage control. Appropriate also because our youth are the main force and the only hope to take India towards a future we dream of — based on reason, science, equality, equity, liberty, justice, fraternity, free speech, and a safe, secure, protected, healthy and knowledgeable society with political maturity and economic equity; unshackled from biases, prejudices, bigotry, misogyny, sexism, homophobia, casteism and classism; and unchained from religious rigidity, superstitions and myths, majority dominance, majoritarian revisionist narratives and the like.
The theme “Yuva Shakti”, merely as a slogan and a strategy to counter the youth’s power and loud, fearless voice, would therefore boomerang. It is hoped that the Government has seriously considered what exactly this theme denotes and how exactly it would be realised to truly empower the youth. If the Government has finally realised and acknowledged the dire need to harness youth power, this theme is appropriate. But if it is intended to douse the raging fires among India’s youth today, it will meet with failure.
The nationwide guiding slogan and focus campaign led by the Ministry of Defence on MyGov is “Honouring Freedom, Inspiring the Future”. The key focus areas for 2026 are: Viksit Bharat 2047: Working towards the long-term goal of making India a fully developed nation by the 100th year of independence; Indigenous Technology: Showcasing self-reliance in technology fields such as AI, 6G trials and the Semiconductor Mission; Green Transition: Highlighting sustainable steps such as Mission LiFE and green hydrogen; and Youth Empowerment: Engaging Gen Z and young entrepreneurs in national dialogue and innovation.
Now, against the background of this “nationwide guiding slogan and focus campaign”, the theme “Yuva Shakti” is ironic because we have just seen the Central and State Governments’ inability to conduct entrance examinations, leading to the Cockroach Janta party and Gen Z’s protest on July 20 and its aftermath. That the CJI termed youth as “cockroaches” itself speaks volumes about how the country’s power centres perceive our young people. Then we had Generation Alpha students taking to the streets to demand basic amenities such as fans and benches, functioning classrooms, clean toilets, safe surroundings, adequate teaching staff and access to drinking water — all of which should form the minimum standard of education.
Even worse, we saw how peacefully protesting youths were brutalised with nailed lathis, pellet guns, tear gas, water cannons and AK-47s on July 20 in Delhi and Bihar. But we still haven’t heard of the National Commission for Women calling out and pulling up the Delhi Police for physically assaulting young female students and protesters, and demanding transparency, accountability and the fixing of responsibility. Neither have we heard of the National Human Rights Commission calling out the Delhi Police for violating the human rights of young peaceful protesters. Because peaceful protest is a democratic right, one would have thought that these bodies would have been the first to raise their voices against the brutalities inflicted on peaceful protesters. But apparently, even women’s protection and human rights are discriminatorily categorised. Worst of all, no one is taking responsibility for ordering the brutality and violence, especially the use of pellet guns, thereby totally ignoring and negating accountability.
Against this background, a brutalised youth and “Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047” are paradoxical. In any case, our youth have already been brutalised by an education system that has deprived them of a level playing field and justice, and this is now further compounded by syllabi that negate science and erase important periods of our history. Our children have also been deprived and denied even the basics in terms of infrastructure, trained and qualified teachers, books, libraries, laboratories, safe drinking water and all other requirements for children to learn and be introduced to the concept of development. Can our education system be revolutionised, not merely reformed, in the next twenty years? Can casteism and classism be done away with in our education system in the next twenty years? Can teacher absenteeism and student dropouts be halted in the next twenty years? Can ideology and politics be kept away from our education system? Can we include and respect various systems of education that empower children to think critically? How do we achieve “Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047” without first cleansing and sterilising our education system?
Besides education, food security, health, safety and socio-economic equity, etc., a green environment and clean air are also crucial for youth empowerment. No one aspect of development can be complete without several other aspects and in a vacuum. Several years ago, the Nagaland Government declared the “Year of Youth Empowerment” — music and sports were foregrounded. Nothing was said or done about education. So today, we have numerous music academies and sports infrastructure, but education infrastructure remains pathetic. Moreover, we have an unenviable rate of school dropouts and one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country. Across the country, including Nagaland, skill development and entrepreneurship are touted, while quality education is sidetracked as the panacea for educational, employment and economic woes. But can one size fit all? Skill development and entrepreneurship also need the foundations of quality education, aptitude and talent. Does skill development promise a corresponding level playing field and employment? Given that big companies are swallowing small enterprises, and in the face of increasing unemployment and soaring prices, can entrepreneurship be an impregnable bulwark? The CJP’s ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, aimed at improving infrastructure and accountability in rural government schools, makes much sense.
There is much to mull over about the way things are. But as we celebrate our country’s milestone of 80 years, let us also grieve for Manipur, where the Indian National Army under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s leadership first raised the Tricolour, bearing the springing tiger, on Indian soil in 1944 at Moirang, in Manipur’s Bishnupur district. Let us contemplate whether Viksit Bharat can truly be achieved without including everyone and every inch of this great nation.
Monalisa Changkija
(The writer is a Dimapur-based veteran journalist, poet, and former Proprietor, Publisher, and Editor of Nagaland Page. Published in the August 16, 2026 issue of North East Now)