Before we begin, it is important to understand the nature of modern conflict.
We are no longer living in an era where wars are fought only with tanks, missiles and soldiers. What is often described as sixth-generation warfare increasingly focuses on information warfare (IW), where narratives, perception, psychology and digital ecosystems become primary battlegrounds.
In asymmetric warfare, where a weaker actor cannot match a stronger one militarily, influencing public opinion, creating internal divisions and eroding trust in institutions becomes a powerful strategy. Instead of defeating a country on the battlefield, the objective shifts to weakening it from within—socially, politically and psychologically.
This is the context in which India must be understood today.
The question I want to ask is not whether we support Narendra Modi or oppose him.
The question is much bigger:
What happens when a rising country of 1.4 billion people enters a period of rapid economic, technological and geopolitical change—and simultaneously becomes one of the world's largest and youngest digital societies?
India today is not the India of twenty or thirty years ago.
Our infrastructure is expanding. Our economy is larger. Digital public infrastructure has transformed everyday life. India is seeking greater self-reliance in defence and technology. Its diplomatic influence has increased. It is attempting to redefine its understanding of its own history and civilisation. And it increasingly seeks to make decisions based on its own strategic interests rather than automatically aligning itself with one global bloc.
There have also been significant innovations and structural changes that demonstrate capability and credibility—whether it is the scale of digital identity systems, real-time payment infrastructure, advancements in space technology, indigenous defence development, or the rapid expansion of digital governance platforms. These developments show that the system is capable of delivering at scale.
None of this means India is without serious problems.
Unemployment is real.
Paper leaks are real.
Failures in governance are real.
Corruption exists.
Young people have legitimate grievances.
And when examinations affecting the futures of millions of students are compromised, those responsible must be investigated and punished.
But there is a second question that we, as young citizens, should be mature enough to ask:
Can a genuine grievance also be exploited?
The answer is obviously yes.
This is where information warfare becomes relevant.
An adversary does not necessarily need to manufacture a crisis from nothing. It can be far more effective to identify a real problem, amplify the anger surrounding it, inject misleading information into the discussion, connect unrelated grievances together and gradually transform dissatisfaction with one institution into distrust of the entire system.
A paper leak can legitimately produce anger against an examination authority.
But through information manipulation, that anger can potentially be redirected:
From "The examination system failed us"
to "The government has failed us"
to "Every institution is corrupt"
to "The entire democratic system is illegitimate"
to ultimately, "The country itself has no future."
These are very different conclusions.
This does not mean that every protest follows this trajectory.
It means that we must recognise how easily legitimate anger can be manipulated in the digital age.
The larger concern, however, remains valid.
India exists in an intensely competitive geopolitical environment.
Countries compete economically.
They compete technologically.
They compete militarily.
And increasingly, they compete for control over narratives.
Modern information warfare does not always ask you to support the enemy.
Sometimes it merely asks you to lose faith in yourself.
Lose faith in your institutions.
Lose faith in your elections.
Lose faith in your judiciary.
Lose faith in your media.
Lose faith in your history.
Lose faith in your fellow citizens.
And eventually lose faith in the idea that your country can succeed.
A divided society becomes easier to influence.
A permanently angry society becomes easier to manipulate.
And a generation that consumes information primarily through algorithms becomes an especially important battlefield.
This is why Gen Z matters.
Young Indians should be among the government's strongest critics when the government fails.
But they should also be among the country's strongest defences against manipulation.
Those two positions are not contradictory.
We should demand answers when examination papers leak.
We should demand accountability when institutions fail.
We should challenge governments when they misuse power.
But we should simultaneously ask:
Who is amplifying this story?
Is the information authentic?
Is an old video being presented as new?
Is a genuine incident being portrayed as something much larger?
Are anonymous accounts suddenly pushing identical narratives?
Is outrage being artificially accelerated?
Are different, unrelated grievances being deliberately connected?
Is somebody trying to convert anger against a policy into hatred against an entire community or institution?
And most importantly:
What evidence would make me change my mind?
If the answer is "nothing," then I am no longer thinking critically. I have become ideologically captured.
This principle applies equally to government supporters and government opponents.
The danger of information warfare is not only that young people may become anti-government.
The danger is that citizens on every side become so polarised that they can no longer distinguish facts from narratives.
One group believes everything critical of India is a foreign conspiracy.
Another believes everything the Indian state says is propaganda.
Both positions are dangerous.
A resilient democracy requires citizens who can hold two ideas simultaneously:
My country can have serious internal problems.
And:
External actors can exploit those problems for their own strategic interests.
Recognising the second does not excuse the first.
And acknowledging the first does not require denying the second.
If India were seriously destabilised, the consequences would extend far beyond one political party or one Prime Minister.
A country of India's population, geography, economic importance and social diversity becoming chronically unstable would have enormous consequences.
Investment and economic growth would suffer.
Employment creation would become harder.
Communal and regional tensions could intensify.
National-security vulnerabilities could increase.
Adversarial states would gain strategic opportunities.
Critical infrastructure and supply chains could become vulnerable.
India's ability to negotiate independently on the global stage would weaken.
And the people who would pay the greatest price would not necessarily be politicians.
They would be ordinary Indians.
Especially young Indians.
That is why the responsibility of our generation is not to protect a particular government.
It is to protect our ability to think.
Governments must remain accountable.
Institutions must remain open to criticism.
Protests must remain a legitimate democratic right.
But we must also become sophisticated enough to recognise when genuine democratic grievances are being manipulated, amplified or weaponised.
We should therefore resist two dangerous extremes.
The first says:
"Anyone who questions the government is anti-national."
That is wrong.
The second says:
"Anyone who warns about information warfare or foreign influence is trying to silence criticism."
That is also wrong.
India's defence against information warfare cannot be blind nationalism.
It must be informed citizenship.
Question the government.
Question the opposition.
Question influencers.
Question viral narratives.
Question foreign media.
Question domestic media.
And sometimes, question your own assumptions.
Because the greatest vulnerability of a democracy is not disagreement.
It is manipulation without awareness.
And perhaps the greatest responsibility of India's young generation is to ensure that while we fight to make our country more accountable, more equal and more democratic, we do not unknowingly become instruments in somebody else's attempt to make it weaker.
We should fight India's problems without fighting India itself.
That distinction may become one of the most important responsibilities of our generation.
Very well written. ๐
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