Nationalism in 2024

 

Optics appearances and image take center stage especially in times of egocentric leadership of a democratic country. The right to protest and be critical of the Government of the day comes from involvement of citizens in debate and discourse on public policy. The problem is that today it is a very complex world and complex country too. The media and the value systems especially related to power and politics have reached a stage where the nexus between business corporates, criminals builders and leadership makes national interest and freedom of individuals subservient to everything else. 

I am reminded of the seven deadly sins of Gandhi and they are as follows

  

If we look for the signs of nationalism in India, unmistakably we will be taken back to our freedom struggles and the battles of Independence. A country is historically forged by many identities and for a long time the geographical entity of India was marked by the Himalayan range in the North, the sea on the West South and East region and the Khyber Pass became the Gateway along with the sea for both migrants and conquerors. Bharat's Akhand Bharat, Mauryan Empire, Gupta Empire, Mughals, Marathas and finally the British forged the contours of the nation as we know it to be and included inits map the areas shown in the map above. 

While many give the credit to the British for forging the entity of a nation, the final act of division along with the seed of communal hatred and discord was reaped after been sown as a seed over 100 years back. The waves of migrants and the crucible of many religious faiths which originated in India combined to create a tapestry of pluralism and diversity which is very different from many nations created out of a single identity weather religious, tribal or ethnic. 

The dominant view in India was that India should embrace a nationalism that took care of the major problems facing the country namely communalism, casteism and economic poverty. The only solution was to ensure that every Indian was given an opportunity to rise to his full potential without facing any discrimination on grounds of the faith one followed, or the social status one was born into or the economic class one belonged to. Our freedom fighters Gandhi, Patel, Nehru, Bose, Maulana Azad, Ambedkar, Rajaji and Rajendra Prasad were all symbols of this united identity. The country conferred on its citizens a historical Constitution. While there are critics of the constitution who felt the Constitution was not liberal enough and was an imitation of the colonial masters. But there are people who feel that deep down the people of India were illiberal and a liberal constitution trying to forge a national identity based on liberal values was a top down preachy approach doomed to failure, the kind of which we are witnessing today. In this situation of deep despair one statement bout India creates a rare optimism in me. It is that whatever bad you state of India as the true the opposite is still true. 

My previous blogs touched on this subject India Hope and Despair and we saw the shenanigans of our leadership over the years compromising on ideology and principles for short term gains. But as enunciated in our slogan Satyameva Jayate (Truth Alone Triumphs) more often than not we seem to have found a way especially post emergency. Unfortunately, over the last two elections the people of India seem to have fallen prey to the false propaganda that our leaders of the freedom struggle were divided in ideology and were in favour of a hyper nationalistic majoritarian ideology similar to that of our neighbouring country Pakistan. The othering of the minority was never something any of our leaders were willing to accept. To say Patel was anti Muslim and Nehru pro Muslim and to say Bose and Ambedkar were anti Gandhi is like quoting things out of context to suit ones needs. Even as I see India swinging to the extreme right I think this is more in the abstract rather than the concrete. Indians have no choice but in everyday life to live in harmony but when tribal instincts in social media are aroused the shriller the abuse of the minority the greater the acceptance among the tribalism of the extremes on both sides. Te capturing of the media of all kinds is creating great damage. 

The basic nature of our nationalism is a diverse pluralistic culture which in diversity shows a deep underlying unity. All is not lost as yet, the fight for India's soul has to begin. This today seems a lost cause but I believe that we shall overcome one day. 

In conclusion, I refuse to let some troll call me anti national for espousing and reminding the country of Nationalism as defined by none other than Gandhi, Patel, Nehru, Azad and Bose

Vispi Jokhi