Mujtoba Ahmed Murshed
These days, we are inundated with endless negative portrayals of Generation Z. From street corners to the political top forum debates, from family living rooms to the vast reaches of social media, the refrain is strikingly familiar that this generation is blamed as the root of irresponsible social unrest, the source of agitation, the impatient voice that dares to disrupt the established order.
In Bangladesh, this branding has been particularly sharp, as many have rushed to lay the blame for the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s long administration on the shoulders of young people. Yet when we step back and examine these judgments, a troubling question arises. Is this generation truly at fault, or is it rather the senior members of society who have abdicated their responsibility to guide them with wisdom and patience?
The truth is less convenient than assigning blame. It is easy to find scapegoats in the restless energy of youth. What is harder is to admit that older generations, in politics as well as in social life, have often chosen to exploit young people for narrow agendas rather than nurture them for greater good. When students take to the streets, many see only chaos, forgetting that this very energy is the raw material of progress. The young become pawns when political parties seek to amplify their own power. They are pushed into the frontlines of protest, but rarely invited to sit at the table where real decisions are made.
To understand this generation, we must begin by recognizing its defining characteristics. Generation Z, those born between the mid-1990s and around 2012, have grown up as digital natives. They are skilled in technologies that older generations still stumble over. They instinctively value diversity and inclusion. They approach work and life with pragmatism and a deep hunger for meaning. They desire growth, flexibility, and adaptability. They are entrepreneurial and collaborative. They are impatient with falsehood and quick to demand authenticity. As Dr. Santor Nishizaki, a professor and coach who studies generational dynamics, has noted, Gen Z is not a generation of apathy but of purpose. They want to know how their careers and their lives connect to something larger, how they can shape rather than simply endure the world they have inherited.
This is not a portrait of a lost generation. It is the sketch of one that is striving to redefine what it means to live meaningfully in an era of uncertainty. Like the Silent Generation that came of age during economic hardship and geopolitical fragility, they too are cautious about their futures. They weigh their digital footprints carefully. They recognize the risks of speaking too freely in a world where one post can haunt a lifetime. Yet alongside this caution lies a fierce entrepreneurial drive and a determination to make their careers serve their sense of purpose.
The numbers are telling a clear chart, according to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Global Youth Development Index Update Report 2023, nearly half of the world’s population is under thirty. In the Commonwealth, the figure rises to sixty percent. In Bangladesh, the 2022 census records that nearly twenty eight percent of the population is between fifteen and twenty nine. In a country of more than 170 million, this translates into tens of millions of young people standing at the threshold of adult life, shaping their futures while carrying the nation’s hopes. Such a demographic reality is not a problem to be feared. It is an extraordinary opportunity, if only it is embraced with vision.
The events of July, when a mass uprising forced the end of Sheikh Hasina’s long serving regime, demonstrated both the potential and the perils of this generation. Though multiple conspiracy theories overflow, ranging from foreign plots to internal sabotage to oust the AL government. Yet no theory can dismiss the central truth: young people felt deeply betrayed by the regime, despite the AL government’s massive infrastructural achievements. They believed the economic promises made to them had been placed in favor of a privileged ruling party elite, underscoring a bold pattern of corruption on a massive scale. They felt their studentship hurdles were not counted, their futures fadeout by ruling party leaders’ corruption and consequently, their anger became the spark that ignited a larger fire.
It is true that in the aftermath of change, many of young people engaged in irregularities to make money. Yet here too the older generation must confront its role. Were these youth truly left unguided, without mentors to channel their energy toward rebuilding rather than tearing down? What of the political leaders and senior figures who have long cultivated their loyalty, only to abandon them when responsibility was most needed? It is not the young alone who must carry the burden of mistakes. Senior leaders, administrators, and community figures must share that responsibility, for it was they who failed to model integrity and to extend constructive guidance.
Over the prevailing scenarios, if Bangladesh is to move forward to catch up the high-tech tone, it must abandon the practice of scapegoating its youth. Instead, it must embrace them with a soft voice, with patience, with love, and with opportunities that make them stakeholders in the nation’s future growth. The power of a kind word from a senior mentor, the inspiration of an authentic leader who practices rather than preaches, can have a profound effect.
The challenges the Gen Z face are not trivial, i.e. this generation must confront climate change, global conflict, widening inequality, unemployment, and the disruptive pace of heartless technological change. They must also navigate a deeply polarized and unforgiving political environment, where the very struggle lies in keeping the path of democracy alive. To expect them to shoulder these burdens without guidance is to condemn them to stumble. To provide them with space, mentorship, and trust is to invite them to rise.
If we wish to see a constructive future for Bangladesh and for the wider world, we must recognize Generation Z as partners, not problems. We must give them room to think globally, to see themselves as citizens not only of Bangladesh but of humanity. Their pulse is already attuned to the rhythm of a globalized order. Obviously, they want to connect across borders, they love to solve problems that transcend nations. But to do so they must first feel anchored in a society that believes in them.
It is high time for the senior generation to reclaim its role, not as opportunist rulers of the young but as their guides. The future of any nation rests not in suppressing youth but in channeling their energy toward creation, innovation, and compassion. So that the choice now lies with the elders, that will they continue to dismiss the youth as troublemakers, or will they embrace them as partners in building a more just and humane society? The answer to that question will determine not only the future of Generation Z, but the destiny of Bangladesh itself.
The views expressed are the writer’s own
The writer is a political analyst, poet and fiction writer
