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| Source: The Hindu |
Patriotism
has reasons to surge in me. I live in a country whose supreme leader requires
even more security than the supreme leader of the world’s superpower. My country has a leader who matters. Matters so much that no citizen can approach
him within a radius of 3 km. “Anyone who
enters within 3 kilometre of the cordoned-off area around Lal Quila will be
shot.” On the Independence Day of my
country.
My
leader is not just a Very Important Person, he is beyond scales of
importance. I have now reasons to be a
proud citizen of my country.
The
other day, another important leader
of my country drew a parallel that also surged the patriotism in me. He compared my country to Germany where all
citizens are Germans and America where all citizens are Americans. Similarly, he argued, all citizens of India
should be “Hindus”. Why not
Indians? Because, in his terminology
India is Hindustan. Never mind that the
Constitution of India does not recognise that name of the country. We can rewrite the Constitution.
The
countries used for comparison are fit to make my blood flow with the passionate
urgency that normally accompanies unswerving patriotism. Germany which pontificated over a racial
purification ritual half a century ago though now, according to the UN
Population Fund, the country is home to the third-highest number of
international migrants. Which part of
Germany’s history is my leader alluding to, I know. That’s the reason why patriotism is pulsating
in my feral veins.
America
is the other example for me to follow, according to my leader. The American census officially recognises six
ethnic and racial categories: White American, Native American and Alaska
Native, Asian American, African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific
Islander, and people of two or more races; a race called "Some other
race" is also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official.
The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or
Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic
and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that composes the largest
minority group in the nation. [Ref: Wikipedia]
But
all the citizens are “Americans,” assures my leader. I bow in humility to his wisdom.
If
all kinds of people in Germany can call themselves Germans, and even more kinds
of people in America can call themselves Americans, why can’t the Indians call
themselves Hindus? Once again my head
bows in humility to a wisdom that my puny brain cannot fathom.
I’m
becoming a great patriot. I can feel
patriotism knocking at each neuron in my veins giving birth to synaptic
patriotism.
A tight slap with the perfect use of sarcasm. Brilliant...
ReplyDeleteJust sad at the sad state of affairs our country has delved into. The worst part is that there are no external circumstances affecting; most are internal and self-driven.. :(
Hindustan will go on to be the most fertile land for cartoonists and satirists.
DeleteYou said it: they are not looking at vital issues. That's going to create a lot of problems.
Synaptic patriotism is neurotic patriotism?
ReplyDeleteYup.
DeleteDr Johnson described patriotism as "the last refuge of the scoundrel". Our present govt will create a lot of patriots, I assure you.
Really liked the satire....
ReplyDeleteHumour is the ideal tool of the agonised, Chaitali.
DeleteExcellent post.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for your brilliant thinking..............!!!
Thousands of people think that our New Prime Minister is not fit for this post . actually they have habit to be live in the same manner as they lived before , they cant accept any new thing around them , they live in congress manner and want to live in same way. But now a person from a very lower class is there on the supreme post of the nation , we should have our minds in control and let him free to do the thing he did in Gujrat and will do for his nation. security definately a prime concern for this very popular guy . so your words definitely shows other side of Indians not of majority. Happy Independence Day
ReplyDeleteYogi I think the focus here is more on the security the PMs get not on a particular person. Its a coincidence that he is now the PM. No one is questioning his capability. He is democratically elected So, he deserves completely the post
DeleteYogi, I disagree with you on most points you've raised.
Delete1. People not accepting anyone as PM has nothing to do with their acceptance or rejection of the "new". It has almost everything to do with what the PM does for the country, his policies, weltanschauung, etc.
2. K R Narayanan, former President, was from one of the lowest castes in Kerala. But no Indian rejected him on that score. In fact, his knowledge and vision were respected.
3. Can we again let Mr Modi do everything he did in Gujarat? God forbid!
4. Security, yes, if his life is under such serious threat, he should be given such security, no doubt. My question is why is his life under such threat? My implicit answer is what follows in the post: Mr Modi's outlooks are not different from Mr Bhagwat's. With such outlooks anyone will earn more enemies than friends. So who is to be blamed for such threats? Anyway, the upshot is we, Indians, will have to pay for such security!
Happy Independence Day.
Agree with you on all counts. Statements were immature and unnecessary. On security front, we have lost two leaders by terrorist bullet or bomb. So security is necessary.
ReplyDeleteI conjoined Modi's security and Bhagwat's statements intentionally. The kind of mindset that such people possess leads to such security requirement.
DeleteAgreed with you, Regarding the VVIP security, the last PM to be assassinated was in the year 1992 and the attack on the parliament was 2001. All the recent attacks are on the common man. All around the world the face of terrorism has changed. Has anyone thought why WTC and The Pentagon for 9/11 why not The White House? Why the London Metros and not The British Parliament? Why The Taj, Mumbai, The Oberoi, The CST and why not any state legislature or parliament? Terrorists now are going from assassination mode to mass killings so its the public places which need the max security much more than the Politicians.A Nation is build of people. Today's common citizen is tomorrow's Leader (Narendra Modi has shown the power of a common man, hasn't he? Let him be a common man and let's not make him a king. We need a citizen to rule us not the king) So, The security of the prospect future leaders are important. Also if quoting from Germany let us quote an incident from the recent FIFA World Cup. Germany won, The Chancellor was present. All the players interacted with her on a very personal basis. Like a Mentor-Student relationship. How many Security personnel were hovering around her? Zero. There was the Brazillian PM who too was present. The entire City had security and The country is Brazil and it is in a similar position as we are economically.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Datta, for the elaborate comment. You've made my job very easy. Yes, what you've said in the comment is what I've said in a satirical, even cynical, way.
DeleteMr Modi brought upon this situation by what he has been doing and saying. Nobody gathers enemies as easily as people like Mr Modi does. Now, anyone can sit and wonder why Mr Modi couldn't make more friends than enemies. Why can't he be another leader (like the ones cited by you) who could just walk into a crowd and shake hands with his people? The answer lies in the next part of my blog. The kind of attitude that people like Mr Modi possess and breed in the followers or like-minded people.
The worst upshot is that more and more people will come up with such sick attitudes since the ground will be more suitable for their growth and development.
A great satirical take ... :-)
ReplyDeleteMani, as I said above in a response, humour makes the pain easy to bear. The satirist doesn't even smile while he writes it!
DeleteHindustani neta doesnt go out even without lal batti. What else were you expecting on Independece day? I don't have a problem with it just that it is our hard earned money that is being spent.
ReplyDeleteLet us be prepared to pay more taxes so that our PM's life is safe. Whose life matters more than the Emperor's?
DeleteI'm happy and sad about the discussion so far. One thing is clear: there are a lot of Indians (not Hindustanis) who understand the underlying threat to the nation posed by Modi govt. But they (we) are all helpless. We elected the govt.
perhaps you have never been around lutyen's new delhi? in recent years
ReplyDeleteLutyen's Delhi will be Savarkar's Delhi soon, friend.
DeleteAbsolutely hit the mark sir.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brendan. And nice to see you back after a pretty long time.
Delete