Dangerous Stance

The concept of an inclusive nationalism as envisaged by our freedom fighters was not mere attainment of a political democracy but also a social democracy which recognized liberty, equality and fraternity as the principle of life. What nationalism sought to achieve was togetherness and freedom for all. Looking back at our freedom movement, there cannot be any second thought that the one factor which pumped energy into it was the united effort of the people coming from all walks of the society and people belonging to the numerous religions our country is home to. Whether it was a Gandhi or a Bhagat Singh, everyone believed that freedom could be achieved only by the united effort of people of India and not by Hindus or Muslims or any other religious community in isolation. Despite the beauty of the cohesive struggle and its depiction of a unique sense of unity in diversity, what is most disheartening is the degree of influence it commands in today’s modern India. Today the concept of nationalism is being linked to a certain religion and centered on a false sense of chauvinism and a multitude of divides which is very unfortunate. The slogans of nationalism are used to murder innocent minorities and sideline rationality. Elections are won not on the basis of the degree of development but on the lines of religion, castes and criminality. The sense of justice, I wonder has diluted with the harsh and suppressive aroma of a phony nationalistic pride. There has been much debate lately on issues of secularism, religious extremism, religious antagonism, Pseudo-secularism, saffron terrorism and god knows how many other terms have been invented to define modern day theories, expressions and ideologies gripping the argumentative Indian. But the core issues are generally left in the dark. Incidents like the fake encounter of innocent Indian nationals in their own land to satisfy the blood lust of the crazy few in power leaves a blot on the secular image of our great country. What possibly the state gained by killing ‘Ishrat Jahan’ or students at the ‘Batla House’? It only created fissures in the already fragile social fabric of our country and gave a chance of opportunism to the separatists. The general hatred towards a particular religion has plagued our thoughts to such a degree that today we tend to associate violence and terrorism directly to it and look at the people coming from such religion with a sense of disdain. We are driven more by sentiments than by the principles of justice and rationality. I remember the day when the infamous ‘Batla House’ incident took place and I was having a chat with my fellow mates on the alleged remarks by Dr. Amartya Sen denouncing the encounter to be a fake one and designed to cover-up the impotency of our police forces and intelligence. Almost all my friends echoed the same view. They were of the opinion that Dr. Sen was an old man and probably lost his wits. For them it was a clear case of the police locating the terrorists responsible for the Delhi blasts and ensuring their way to hell. They did not care about the facts of the case or a judicial inquiry. For them, the remarks made by a learned scholar and a champion of equality and social justice like Dr. Sen meant nothing at all. The grip of a false sense of nationalism and religious superiority was so great and infectious that one failed to question even the obvious. In order to thwart the evil we are ready to embrace evil hood itself undermining its implications. It is with great dismay that I wonder the reasons why the so called modern India behaves like Neolithic beings which could only act but not think and reason; a quality or lack of it found only in wild animals! On a given day, we would savour with delight an Islamic food or festivities but at the same time we would denounce Islam itself. How opportunistic and selfish have we become in our own ways. We would look down upon Pakistan as a failed state due to its insensitivities towards its minorities and its evil plans to bleed India by breeding a brainwashed army of terrorists who knows nothing and wants nothing but to hurt India. We would denounce Pakistan for raising an army against India on religious lines and yet do not question a certain line of thought in our own country which wants to create a similar force to thwart the minorities here. How grossly Hippocratic have we become! By mixing nationalism with religion we are only creating a dangerous time bomb which would only explode to our own misfortune in the years to come. The world is witness to what is happening in Pakistan. Instead of concentrating on its wellbeing, Pakistan chose to play the dirty game against India mixing religion with nationalism but its ploy back fired to its own misery. Do we want a similar society – a society under the grip of a certain religion which claims itself to be the guardian of the rest? Or do we want a truly pluralistic society driven by the principles of inclusive nationalism, justice and rationality!