“You can stand in line for watching a movie but can’t stand in an ATM line for the sake of the nation. What about the soldiers who stand at the borders relentlessly for our safety?”
Arguments like these have become a commonplace in our intellectual discourse. One of the most apparent indication of a nation moving towards jingoism is when the patriotism of its citizens gets challenged at every step. There is a growing desire to create a single litmus test to check the patriotism levels of every individual. Denying individuals their own definitions of nationalism and forcing a single narrative down their throat is what Orwell would have called ‘Thought Policing’
This authoritarian form of nationalism is a threat to the primal identities of an individual. It invariably leads to the belief that a particular language, religion or ethnicity is better than others or a better representation of what the country stands for. Instances such as the beef banning hysteria, the row over the Hindi language and stalling movies which have a Pakistani star cast should ring alarm bells in all of our hearts with regard to the direction in which our country is moving. History is filled with examples of how this form of nationalism leads to the erosion of human rights and creation of a totalitarian state. The descent towards jingoism would be particularly shameful for a country like India, which has always prided itself on its principles of inclusiveness, pacifism and equality. It is antithetical to the soul of our democracy and the vision of our founding fathers
As Benedict Anderson rightly put it “No one can be a true nationalist who is incapable of feeling ashamed if his or her government commits crimes, including those against their fellow citizens”. Nations are built by critical thinking and constructive criticism of the present day policies and not by bowing down to a single political party, idea or a figure. Increasing human welfare must be at the bedrock of nationalism and no form of nationalism which leads to erosion of human rights can ever lead to a stronger society and consequently a stronger nation. This statement from Rabindranath Tagore should help us is setting our priorities straight, “Patriotism can’t be our final spiritual shelter. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.”
One of the manifestation of this hyper-nationalization is our increasingly fragile national ego. Rather than accepting the problems of widespread poverty and illiteracy, declining economic indicators, rampant gender discrimination and sexual violence, a resurgence of religious and national chauvinism threatening our individual and collective rights and working towards a solution, a ‘nationalist’ nowadays berates anyone who points out these problems and brands him an anti-national trying to tarnish the image of our country. Remember how the Snapchat CEO was abused for allegedly calling the country ‘poor’ and a well-known Bollywood figure was berated when his wife raised some genuine concerns about the nation. Instances like these point towards the paranoid and insecure nature of our current nationalism.
If we wish to move towards achieving the dual objective of economic development and human welfare, this symbolic, chest thumping and paranoid form of nationalism has to be replaced by a more compassionate and humane version. In order for the nation to reach its true potential and to realize the dreams of our founding fathers, we have to transcend the feeling of patriotism beyond the petty issues of making everyone sing the national anthem or chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and focus on solving the issues plaguing the country at the grassroots level. As renowned historian Ramachandra Guha said, ‘Patriotism, like charity begins at home’.