Gen Z rewriting rules, questioning what seniors tolerated, say young voices

The recent student protests in Delhi have challenged the perception that Gen Z is politically unaware, disinterested or unwilling to speak up, said actor Gouri G Kishan, Perambra MLA Fathima Thahiliya and young AI entrepreneur Raul John Aju at the Manorama News Conclave 2026.

​Speaking at the session ‘Generation Unscripted’, the three discussed the aspirations, strengths and shortcomings of the current generation, while also questioning some of the labels attached to young people. For Gouri, the Delhi protests demonstrated the ability of young people to mobilise and stand up for what they believe is right.

“It is because of the initiative of the younger generation that such a huge change happened, including a minister resigning. They continued with peaceful protests and had the courage to point out what they believed was right and wrong,” she said.
The actor, who said she was proud to belong to a generation often described as lazy and laidback, had also tried to participate in the protests in whatever way she could. Social media, she noted, played an important role in helping information reach a wider audience.

The discussion also turned to how young people are engaging with politics today, with Thahiliya pointing to a shift from traditional political participation to issue-based responses. “There is a big change happening politically. This generation responds more to topics and issues. They speak about matters that affect the general public and do not necessarily need a banner to do so. The new generation is speaking about important issues without banners. Political parties also have to recognise this shift. Otherwise, people will continue speaking against the system,” Thahiliya said.

The Delhi protests, she suggested, were therefore also a message to political parties about how young people are choosing to engage with politics.
For Raul, they also offered an answer to the criticism that Gen Z has not achieved enough to distinguish itself. One of the generation's strengths, he said, is its understanding that knowledge is no longer restricted to a particular group.

“Knowledge is accessible to everyone today. Gen Z also has a strong support system among itself, and there is a sense that we have to stand up for what is right,” he said. His own experience of supporting the protests reflected that conviction. Raul recalled losing around 4,000 followers after making a social media post supporting the protests, but chose not to delete it, saying that issues such as humanity and sustainability were more important than the loss of followers.

Thahiliya felt that calling Gen Z selfish was an oversimplification. ‘Self-centred’, she suggested, would be a more fitting description of a generation that is less willing to overlook things that earlier generations may have accepted.

“They are not willing to overlook things that previous generations may have accepted. They question what they do not agree with and are unwilling to tolerate what they consider unacceptable,” she said. She linked this difference to the contrasting experiences of each generation, adding that respect is an important consideration for young people today.

Gouri described this quality as self-reliance, something she believes has been strengthened by the easy availability of information. Young people today can learn skills independently and access opportunities that would have been difficult to acquire two or three decades ago. “Today, you can learn almost anything. The current generation is ambitious and has access to opportunities that were not available to us 20 or 25 years ago,” she said.

The expectations young people bring into the workplace also came up during the discussion. Raul spoke about the difficulty of communicating those expectations and expressing ideas across generations.

Gouri’s experience as a public figure brought another aspect of Gen Z’s relationship with social media into the discussion. She spoke about cyberbullying and how people in the public eye can sometimes be made to feel like ‘public property’.

“Social media should be used responsibly. It can be a very good medium to spread awareness and bring attention to important issues, but we also take a lot of things for granted,” she said. Thahiliya also pointed to the misuse of social media, particularly the spread of fake news and the ability to manipulate people through it. Gouri, however, said she believes the current generation has laid a good platform for those who come after it. She also stressed that some things at the foundational level should remain unchanged, particularly the cultural nuances that shape society.