Challenging tradition: Indian youth demand change from community leaders

AN OPEN letter has criticised community elders for failing to mentor and empower the next generation, sparking a debate about leadership and succession for Indian youth in the country.

- NADIA KHAN

In the letter, above, which has been shared widely on social media platforms and has since been published in the POST, the authors, whose names are not known, expressed their “disappointment” in leaders who apparently hold on to positions and are unwilling to help the youth reach their full potential.

Youth

Brandon Pillay, a former member of Parliament, said the letter resonated with him.

“It certainly opened many old wounds. I know firsthand what this means. I started my activism at the age of 17. What I expected and the results I got were worlds apart. Instead of grooming, shaping and mentoring, I got the total opposite. I was seen as a rebel, but here I was a young person among adults and elders, and I learnt nothing from them. In fact, what I learnt was never to be like them, never to pull down other people, never to see people differently.”

However, Pillay added there had been a few elders or adults who helped shape him.

“Sadly, that type of leadership doesn’t exist any longer. The late Professor Fatima Meer who arrived in Bayview believed in me. Professor Ashwin Desai taught me that you don’t need to be liked just get the work done, and Ramesh Harcharan instilled in me to give my best and do my best.

“From Vivian Reddy, I learnt that if ‘you can dream it, you can achieve it’. These were the only guiding forces that had a positive influence in the early days. Later on, I met Dhilosen Pillay, and he was the only motivating factor.”

Pillay, who is the chairperson and director of the Bayview Ubuntu Community Centre, said it was important for the “elders” to accept that they would not be around forever.

“You cannot say that young people are our future generation when you are not prepared to invest in that future, not prepared to pass on the baton, and not prepared to empower and develop them.