The year that just ended was a crucial one in many respects. Obviously the 2018 parliamentary election was the major event, the ramifications of which will be felt in the next years. The people voted overwhelming number for the continuity of development and progress that Bangladesh has seen in the last decade. Millions of voters exercised their right to franchise for the first time and it is quite clear that the vast majority among them believe in strongly in the values that led to the liberation of this country in 1971. And it is those youth who will prove to be the deciding factor regarding what course the country will take in future.  

2018 was a year where the youth proved that they are very conscious members of the society and are prepared to make sacrifices to establish their rights.

Several times in the year they took to the streets to protest against what they believed to be injustice and deprivation. The interesting this is that they were not under any party banner. They did not wait for any signal or direction from leaders of political parties or the civil society. The students felt that they will have to help themselves and that is what they did.

The issue of quota in government service has been a bone of contention for a long time. Around 56 percent of government jobs had been reserved for candidates from various quotas. Of this, 30 percent were for freedom fighters' children and grandchildren, 10 percent for women, 10 percent for people of underdeveloped districts, five percent for members of indigenous communities. In Bangladesh, quota in government jobs was introduced to ensure inclusion of all communities into mainstream education and development. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced quota for freedom fighters in 1972 but it was scrapped three years later. The current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina re-introduced the system of quotas for freedom fighters in 1996. Among the students and job seekers have long been protesting against the system, demanding that quota be reduced from 56 to 10 per cent. The main participants in the quota reform demonstrations  were obviously students of different universities and colleges. They were soon joined by job seekers from different parts of the country who feel the system is discriminating against them. Quota reformists stressed their movement was for logical reformation in the civil service quota system, not for total abolishment. The authorities thankfully did not go for any draconian steps. Some member of the student wing of the Awami League go involved in fracas with the protesters. Soon enough Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned the members of the party's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League so that no more complaints are lodged against them on the quota issue. And a solution acceptable to all quarters was found.   

On July 29 two students were killed and seven others injured in Airport Road accident, allegedly through reckless driving by an early teen helper.  Dhaka’s buses are notoriously unregulated and accident-prone. Operated by competing private companies, the coaches race to get to waiting passengers first. Research from the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways found that more than 4,200 people were killed in road accidents last year, with most of the fatalities caused by reckless drivers.

To change the status quo, agitated students issued nine demands, including capital punishment for irresponsible driving. They blocked major intersections in Bangladesh’s congested capital Dhaka for five straight days, choking traffic and vandalizing vehicles as they demonstrate against a bus accident that killed two teens. Authorities have urged an end to the protests, as the students’ outrage paralyzes the city of 18 million. Marches and sit-ins along main thoroughfares have rendered Dhaka’s daily gridlock impassable. As a matter of fact the students took over the duty of running the traffic for a few days and in general the common people were sympathetic to them.  Students marched through city streets demanding to see people’s driving licenses and parading through the streets chanting “we want justice.” The government shut down high schools, and officials promised the teens their road safety concerns would be considered.

We do not want students to play vigilante traffic cops. But they were in a way forced to resort to this radical step. And the authorities must reign in the unruly elements of the transport sector. While the situation has returned to the chaotic situation the protests of the students would act as a reminder that the youth will not take things lying down any more and they will not be cowed by goons masquerading as transport workers.

Aritry Adhikary, a ninth grader of Viqarunnisa Noon School brought a mobile phone during a school examination and her parents were rebuked by the principal Nazneen Ferdous in front of the teenager. Deeply shaken by the incident, the 15-year old sprinted out of the principal's office, after which she was found dead at her residence, where she hanged herself from a ceiling fan. The protest and subsequent coverage in the media generated widespread criticism about how her case was handled by the school and segued into wider discussions about examination pressure on students, societal pressure and the prevailing education system as a whole. The authorities in what can only be termed as a knee-jerk reaction arrested the class teacher. Any meeting that takes place between teachers/administration and parents must happen with the best interest of the student in mind. Teachers must recognise that the students are not their enemy. Teachers should approach disciplinary matters as dealing with a particular action or actions. The action is the problem, the student should not be treated as a problem. Experts believe that whenever a student begs or pleas, you have to stop. And instead of threatening them, you have to work towards specific consequences.

The youth in Bangladesh have a glorious history. In every movement our youth have been at the vanguard. The 1952 language movement was virtually a movement propelled by the youth. It was they who sacrificed their lives to ensure the rightful place of our mother tongue.

In 1966 it was the youth who took to the streets against the Hamudur Rahman  committee report. Again in 1969 it was the youth who made possible the overthrow of dictator Ayub Khan through the mass upsurge. The senior political leadership came into the picture only at the fag end. Everyone knows about the heroism and sacrifice of our youth in 1971.

Even after our Liberation War the youth have been at the forefront of all the political struggles.

Youth is the time when we are at our most idealistic selves. It is often said that today's youth lack idealism. Well, that is simply not true. They are as idealistic as their predecessors of the 1960s or7os. However, the fact is that we are living in a different time. Things cannot remain the same forever. The times and circumstances of the youth today are not similar to what it was decades earlier. One must realisze that today's youth have all grown up in a free country.

Today's world is a place where political boundaries are getting blurred. To say that our youth are devoted followers of the degraded western culture is to take a over simplistic view of things. The contemporary youth have a much greater exposure to other cultures. In the present day world you cannot remain a recluse. It is a reality that the youth today, the world over, are heavily influenced by American culture and some say its worst aspects. The Bangladeshi youth have not been an exception.

However, they are devoted to their own culture too and are proud of it. Rabindra Sangeet is still a favorite with many. They are not the stereotypes of a Punjabi-clad Bengali'" bhadrolok" of yesteryears. Just because a young girl prefers to be in jeans does not make her any less of a Bengali. Culture itself, after all, is an ever-changing phenomenon. Our culture will be enriched if we interact with other cultures. We, of course, have to make sure that it all does not become a one-way traffic.

The writer is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Independent