Optimism about the Future and Awareness of Traditions
Event Reports
Joerg Wolff, who was head of the KAS office in India until March 2009, gave a rough outline of the study. According to the study, Indian youths are open to the modernization of their society, whilst not wishing, however, to break with the traditions and values of their parents. “There is a strong feeling of optimism about the future, which is accompanied by the will to work towards a better future,” says Wolff. At the same time, religion and family are extremely important to young Indians. 5,000 Indians between the ages of 18 and 34, representing all social classes and geographical regions, took part in the survey.
During his trips to India, Dr. Günther Krings, who is a member of the German parliament, was struck by the huge thirst for education in the cities. Although he doesn’t expect Indian youths to imitate the 1968 German youth movement, he is convinced that the momentum of change will make a difference. “The caste system, for example, will lose its hold”, says Krings. Dr. Christian Wagner, researcher at the Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Politik, agrees with this analysis. He expects the caste system to prevail, but castes to acquire more and more political significance.
This is because politics is very important to Indian youths. The study showed that 85 percent of young voters cast ballots and 71 percent expressed great confidence in democracy. Experts agree that the effects of this were already evident in this year’s parliamentary election. The Congress Party won an unexpectedly clear victory. Joerg Wolff believes Rahul Gandhi’s involvement played a significant role. The offspring of India’s most important political family often highlighted the needs of Indian youth during the Congress Party’s election campaign.
In doing so, “Rahul Gandhi gave the performance of his political career,” said Christian Wagner. In his view, the new government under the leadership of the experienced Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has the right credentials for tackling the urgent problems that India faces: Improvement of the infrastructure, development of the agricultural sector and progress with regard to women's policy and social policy. This is the only way of fighting the country’s enormous poverty.
After all the country is in a crisis-ridden region and the West hopes India can set an example for its neighbors. “India is a haven of stability for the entire region, and the election has strengthened the conditions for such stability even further,” said Günther Krings in connection with these problems. Christian Wagner thinks that the prospects for cooperation with India are especially good in the financial and energy safety sectors. Furthermore, India has a substantial interest in security in the region. Christian Wagner thinks a lot of money for development aid will go to Afghanistan, and the new Indian government will soon resume talks with Pakistan: “The rapprochement that occurred during the last few years is bearing fruit.”
“India has shown that democracies can also grow quickly, and it has achieved a great deal in the last 20 years,” said Joerg Wolff at the end of the discussion. Like his co-speakers, he was convinced that India will continue in the development of its democracy and that its youth will take an active role in this. “India remains a conservative country that lives from its culture and history,” said Wolff in summary, “We will probably witness a new model of modernization there – one that mixes Western influences with Indian traditions.”
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