Pune, India: Every generation has witnessed protests, and Generation Z is no exception, author Amish Tripathi said on Saturday, adding that dissent should always remain within the constitutional framework envisioned by Dr B. R. Ambedkar.
Speaking to PTI during the promotion of his new children's book, Dhruv - Tara: The Great Indian History Quiz, in Pune, Maharashtra, Tripathi said young people have every right to protest, provided they seek change through constitutional means.
The bestselling author also called for the "decolonisation" of Indian history education, arguing that many school textbooks continue to reflect colonial-era biases.
Thousands of Gen Z students recently participated in protests across India, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), over the alleged NEET paper leak and other examination irregularities. One of the protesters' key demands was met on 25 July, when Indian Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.
Tripathi said every generation had participated in protests during its youth.
"Every generation, when they were of college age, has participated in protests. Take the Boomer generation, who are now the grandparents of the current generation. At that time, the Naxalite movement was in full swing and involved armed rebellion," he said.
He noted that Generation X also took part in major protests, including the Mandal agitation.
"Millennials, too, had their own protests, including the anti-corruption movement of 2011-12," he added.
Tripathi said it was unfair to single out Gen Z for participating in protests, noting that earlier generations had also witnessed significant public movements.
"My only thing is as long as it does not go into the unconstitutional territory," he said, referring to Ambedkar's "Grammar of Anarchy" speech.
"We have a constitutional system now in India. We must follow the constitutional system and push for reforms we want through constitutional means. If they're protesting, they have every right to. Every generation has done it before," he added.
Tripathi also spoke about the need to "decolonise" the teaching of Indian history, saying many school textbooks continue to present a colonial-era perspective.
"Many things are still carrying a colonised version of history," he said, adding that his new book aims to present historical facts from "a decolonised perspective" through an engaging story.
"The idea of this book is actually to teach the kids facts from a decolonised perspective, under the garb of a fun story, so that they can enjoy themselves but through it still learn some stuff," he said.
Tripathi said his interactions with students during the book promotion tour suggested that history remains one of the least engaging subjects for many children.
He claimed that "seventy to eighty per cent" of students raise their hands when asked whether they find history boring.
"We have actually made what is a very important subject into something very boring because of the way it's being taught, because of the textbooks," he said, adding that history should be taught through storytelling rather than rote learning.
Drawing inspiration from India's storytelling traditions, Tripathi said Dhruv - Tara follows the adventures of two 11-year-old rivals, Dhruv and Tara, who are forced to work together in a national history quiz.
"This is essentially an adventure of two kids, Dhruv and Tara… through that adventure, you discover things that are not there in your textbooks," he said during the launch event at Solanki Booksellers, a long-standing roadside bookshop in Pune.
The author said he hopes the book will encourage children to develop a greater interest in Indian history while discovering lesser-known historical facts in an engaging way.