The toddlers of the current generation are called the "reels-generation" as they cannot be fed without a screen in front of them showing them second-long reels on social media websites. From little kids to adults, all are now addicted to scrolling through these short videos. They also tend to lose interest if they cannot find something newer and more interesting in every scroll. So, the race of being on trend has become a real competition for the social media influencers.

It probably started with the game "Guess the Goat" and continued with Argentina's victory in the Copa America final. In between we experienced some significant movements like the university teachers' strike over the new pension scheme, and the beginning of the quota reform movement by students. Within a week, those movements lost their position on the list when news of question leaks in Bangladesh Civil Service exams, along with the tale of the millionaire driver, came out. When it seemed that we would almost start to forget that those issues are real and not reels, our young generation made sure that this time they are not leaving the streets until their demands are fulfilled. People around the world witnessed Bangladeshi students suffering on the streets for days in order to ensure reformation of the quota system. And then, we lost our internet connections, at a time when many of those young protestors were dying terrible deaths on the street.

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The (reformed) quota scheme, our state, and the marginalised

I remember when we didn't have cable connection; we used to wait eagerly for Friday afternoons to watch a movie on BTV or a drama in the evening. Nowadays, entertainment channels are so abundant that the excitement has left us. We are buying subscriptions for Netflix, HBO and other streaming platforms. Similarly, our national issues are so numerous at this time that it has become difficult to pay attention to a single one. Without reaching the resolution of a single issue, we are asked to wait for a bit longer so that we get bored of the news that is starting to get stale and start looking for something newer and more exciting. As the internet has been restored in a limited capacity across the country recently, we are eagerly awaiting for things to get back to normal even at a time such as this, forgetting what abnormality we experienced a few days ago. Are the martyred young minds are going to be ignored as they are not drawing enough attention anymore?

Even though we don't want to admit it, we must come to terms with the fact that we have thickened our skin over the years and now we have almost become numb to the blows we get from the news. We did not speak when lower income people had to stop buying meat and fish due to unbearable price hikes. We did not look for any resolution when we get to know about people who loaded their bags with black money and eloped. We were not loud enough when another group of people were on the same streets asking for their rights. We kept scrolling futher down for "trending" issues as we ignored our duties.

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The government should take responsibility for its mistakes

Even now, our respected crisis resolvers are waiting for us to "get tired of it" till we find something new to get busy with. With our collective inability to pay attention, it is not that unlikely that we will forget this too, as soon as we scroll down to the latest Ambani wedding videos.

This country is now desperately in need of optimistic minds. This time, people must not forget the past. Showing respect to the lost lives, we should hope for better future leaders among today's unbeatable young blood who won't say "It is what it is" and move on, who won't get tired of waiting for the rights they deserve, and whose voices cannot be silenced because "it does not concern them" before we get too comfortable with our numbness.

'Mahabuba Rahman is assistant professor at the Department of English, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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