Skip to main content

I am not a nationalist




I am not a nationalist. That does not make me antinational. Rather, it makes me more human; it makes me a person who is open to other cultures and languages, religions and lifestyles.

I often imagine myself as a bird to which borders and fences mean nothing. The bird can fly across the Line of Control to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and further to Pakistan and then to Afghanistan and beyond, without a passport and visa.

But I am not a bird, alas. I am a man without wings except in my imagination. So I need to respect what other men respect: borders and fences. Hence I have acquired a passport which shows my nationality indubitably. Yes, I belong to a nation. Does that make me a nationalist? Should it?

Nation-states are human creations for the convenience of administration. People need to erect fences and say this is our area and you can’t transgress. That’s fine. I have no issues with that. But why should that make me hate the fellow on the other side of the fence? Nationalism seems to mean just that: hating the fellow on the other of my fence.

Nationalism can be a healthy and required sentiment if a nation is enslaved by another. When the British colonised India, nationalism was justified. But that nationalism is not hatred of the British as Mahatma Gandhi said clearly. “We don’t hate you,” he told the British, “but we must tell you that you don’t belong here as the rulers. We must govern ourselves.” I’ll die for that sort of nationalism.

But if you tell me that I must hate the British if I wish to be a nationalist, I’m sorry. I don’t want to pervert my heart with hatred of anyone. I don’t have to hate Pakistan in order to prove my love for India. I don’t have to be a bigot in order to be a patriot.

I would like to be a bird with translucent wings, flying above all sorts of fences, fences of nations, religions, languages, cultures and races. I have those wings, in fact. They are so transparent that you can’t see them. So I may look like an antinational creature flying in alien spaces. Looks are deceptive unless you know how to read hearts.



PS. Written for Indispire Edition 287: #nationalism


Welcome to my new book: God's Love Song.

Comments

  1. Very well-written. I completely agree with your thoughts on nationalism and it couldn't be explained better in so few words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm delighted to hear that especially in these troubled days.

      Delete
  2. To be or not to be a nationalist is an individual's choice... just as valid as his choice of definition for this concept. There is always a strong current in favour of the way the powerful choose to define at a point in time. Every definition comes with its own set of pros and cons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as one's choices doesn't harm others, it's fine.

      The leader does make the difference.

      Delete
  3. You are absolutely correct. Humanity is and should be sans the borders of nation-states. The assertion of yourself - 'Looks are deceptive unless you know how to read hearts' is a truth and nothing but the truth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm always happy to read your views because there's so much in common between us.

      Delete
  4. Brotherhood of Mankind is what is more important than nationalism. After all, it is the same 'red' blood that flows through them. For a clearer perspective, just ask any NRI regarding the love of Pakis. Outside these two countries, at another foreign country Brotherhood is much more appreciated than nationalism. So it is not that these two nations can't be at peace. But some hidden agenda of the dark minds ruling these countries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hidden agenda, you said it. It's not so hidden anymore, however.

      Delete
  5. Totally agree. It seems like words lose their actual meaning and are redefined by people according to their wish. The same is the case for nationalism, and I'd say feminism, and other such ideals. One must bring clarity in what they mean by the terms they use. Nationalism does seem to have a negative tinge to it, what with the hate expressed towards other nations. Views like yours need to be heard. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obliged for articulating your view so clearly and it's a healthy view which is becoming rare nowadays.

      Delete
  6. Very well written Sir. I completely agree with your line of thought here. It seems like people are being encouraged and guided to become extremists. We can't claim to be a democratic state if so many restrictions are being imposed on the citizens, as if we are all school children , studying in a convent with very strict rules.No freedom of expression leads to a gradual death of one's spirit. May balance prevail...and soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ayodhya: Kingdom of Sorrows

T he Sarayu carried more tears than water. Ayodhya was a sad kingdom. Dasaratha was a good king. He upheld dharma – justice and morality – as best as he could. The citizens were apparently happy. Then, one day, it all changed. One person is enough to change the destiny of a whole kingdom. Who was that one person? Some say it was Kaikeyi, one of the three official wives of Dasaratha. Some others say it was Manthara, Kaikeyi’s chief maid. Manthara was a hunchback. She was the caretaker of Kaikeyi right from the latter’s childhood; foster mother, so to say, because Kaikeyi had no mother. The absence of maternal influence can distort a girl child’s personality. With a foster mother like Manthara, the distortion can be really bad. Manthara was cunning, selfish, and morally ambiguous. A severe physical deformity can make one worse than all that. Manthara was as devious and manipulative as a woman could be in a men’s world. Add to that all the jealousy and ambition that insecure peo...

Abdullah’s Religion

O Abdulla Renowned Malayalam movie actor Mohanlal recently offered special prayers for Mammootty, another equally renowned actor of Kerala. The ritual was performed at Sabarimala temple, one of the supreme Hindu pilgrimage centres in Kerala. No one in Kerala found anything wrong in Mohanlal, a Hindu, praying for Mammootty, a Muslim, to a Hindu deity. Malayalis were concerned about Mammootty’s wellbeing and were relieved to know that the actor wasn’t suffering from anything as serious as it appeared. Except O Abdulla. Who is this Abdulla? I had never heard of him until he created an unsavoury controversy about a Hindu praying for a Muslim. This man’s Facebook profile describes him as: “Former Professor Islahiaya, Media Critic, Ex-Interpreter of Indian Ambassador, Founder Member MADHYAMAM.” He has 108K followers on FB. As I was reading Malayalam weekly this morning, I came to know that this Abdulla is a former member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Kerala , a fundamentalist organisation. ...

Lucifer and some reflections

Let me start with a disclaimer: this is not a review of the Malayalam movie, Lucifer . These are some thoughts that came to my mind as I watched the movie today. However, just to give an idea about the movie: it’s a good entertainer with an engaging plot, Bollywood style settings, superman type violence in which the hero decimates the villains with pomp and show, and a spicy dance that is neatly tucked into the terribly orgasmic climax of the plot. The theme is highly relevant and that is what engaged me more. The role of certain mafia gangs in political governance is a theme that deserves to be examined in a good movie. In the movie, the mafia-politician nexus is busted and, like in our great myths, virtue triumphs over vice. Such a triumph is an artistic requirement. Real life, however, follows the principle of entropy: chaos flourishes with vengeance. Lucifer is the real winner in real life. The title of the movie as well as a final dialogue from the eponymous hero sugg...

Empuraan and Ramayana

Maggie and I will be watching the Malayalam movie Empuraan tomorrow. The tickets are booked. The movie has created a lot of controversy in Kerala and the director has decided to impose no less than 17 censors on it himself. I want to watch it before the jingoistic scissors find its way to the movie. It is surprising that the people of Kerala took such exception to this movie when the same people had no problem with the utterly malicious and mendacious movie The Kerala Story (2023). [My post on that movie, which I didn’t watch, is here .] Empuraan is based partly on the Gujarat riots of 2002. The riots were real and the BJP’s role in it (Mr Modi’s, in fact) is well-known. So, Empuraan isn’t giving the audience any falsehood as The Kerala Story did. Moreover, The Kerala Story maligned the people of Kerala while Empuraan is about something that happened in the faraway Gujarat quite long ago. Why are the people of Kerala then upset with Empuraan ? Because it tells the truth, M...

Empuraan – Review

Revenge is an ancient theme in human narratives. Give a moral rationale for the revenge and make the antagonist look monstrously evil, then you have the material for a good work of art. Add to that some spices from contemporary politics and the recipe is quite right for a hit movie. This is what you get in the Malayalam movie, Empuraan , which is running full houses now despite the trenchant opposition to it from the emergent Hindutva forces in the state. First of all, I fail to understand why so much brouhaha was hollered by the Hindutvans [let me coin that word for sheer convenience] who managed to get some 3 minutes censored from the 3-hour movie. The movie doesn’t make any explicit mention of any of the existing Hindutva political parties or other organisations. On the other hand, Allahu Akbar is shouted menacingly by Islamic terrorists, albeit towards the end. True, the movie begins with an implicit reference to what happened in Gujarat in 2002 after the Godhra train burnin...