What is not Nationalism?

Nationalism and the concept of nations came from Europe during the industrial revolution and the French revolution where due to the rapid development of economy and markets, it became necessary to define nations. With new technologies and cultural improvements, the need to unify and defend one’s country became greater.

Nationalism means devotion for the nation. It is a sentiment that binds the people together. Indian nationalism was born in opposition to the British colonial rule; witnessed for the first time during 1857 mutiny, in which Hindus and Muslims battled together against foreign rule. This was anti-colonial nationalism. Freedom struggle brought nationalism to us Indians.
Nationalism is a western concept. In Europe, there was not much of diversity and no internal complications. Their resources were scanty and there was continuous unrest between neighbours, which prompted them to define boundaries and nations. Nationalism found in India is an adapted or acculturated version of the original European concept. Regardless of whether nationalism is a cause or product of modernisation, nationalism is a part and parcel of a wider phenomenon of becoming modern.
In the light of recent events that took place in Delhi and around the country, I realised that how misinformed and negligent we are, the highly educated students of the nation. Few Indian students in the past months were charged with sedition and criminal conspiracy and were called as anti-nationalists. Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, named 'Sedition', explains sedition as 'whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India' shall be punished with life imprisonment.
What we ignore is the fact that comments that express strong disapproval of 'the measures of the Government, with a view to obtain their desired modifications by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offense under this section.

We need to understand that having opinions different from the ruling government is not being anti-national. A healthy democracy works only when people have the right to voice their opinions and question the governments.
Many Indian freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, were charged with sedition during freedom struggle. When the first amendment was introduced, which included detailed limitations on free speech, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was categorical in his belief that the offence of sedition was fundamentally unconstitutional.

Many incidents in the past tell us how the Right to Speech and Expression has been denied in the 21st century in the largest democracy of the world. Mahatma Gandhi said that Indian nationalism is not exclusive, nor aggressive, nor destructive.

Nationalism today has become a political agenda used not to unite the masses but to silence the critics of the ruling governments. Majoritarianism and jingoist nationalism are being used to carry out the policing operations. This vigilantism of ‘self-proclaimed’ nationalist and chauvinist groups has the seal of government approval whereas sedition is being used recklessly at anybody who is critical of the government.

People should have the right to express their dissatisfaction towards the government. We need to understand that nation is not equal to government. Therefore being anti-government does not mean that you are anti-nation or that you hate the country. Nationalism is being used as a disjunction to deviate us from the short comings and failures of the governments.
Nationalism is being equated with exaggerated national symbols. The adoption of national identities leads to more focus on some aspects and complete neglect and hence dissolution and extinction of other aspects which make a country. All that is done in good motive to unite a nation leads to discrimination and unjust portrayal.

In November, 2016, Supreme Court ordered that the National Anthem be played before every movie in every cinema hall in India, to ‘instil a sense of committed patriotism and nationalism’. As per another conflicting judgement of Supreme Court in Bijoe Emanuel Vs. State of Kerala, National Anthem could not be sung under roof. It should always be sung in open area under the sky.
In January, 2017, the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) banned Pakistani artists and technicians from working in Indian films following the Uri attacks.
In July, 2017, the Madras High Court made singing Vande Mataram compulsory in all government schools, colleges and universities in Tamil Nadu at least once a week in the ‘larger public interest and to instil a sense of patriotism’. It also directed that Vande Mataram should be played and sung in all government offices and institutions as well as private companies, factories and industries at least once a month.

In July, 2017, slaughter of cattle was banned. Eating, selling, transporting or exporting meat of the cow genus is a non-bailable offence, punishable with up to 10 years in jail in all of northern, central and western India. This would lead to a decreased supply of not just meat but also buttons, soap, toothpaste, paint brushes and surgical stitches. Not adhering to its own ideology, the government has allowed Mother Cow to be slaughtered in some North-eastern states and Goa.

In Charak Samhita the flesh of cow is prescribed as a medicine for various diseases like irregular fever and emaciation. The fat of the cow is recommended for debility and rheumatism. Indian Gods, Indra preferred eating bull's meat and Agni, bull's and cow's meat. In the Mahabharata there is a mention of a king named Rantideva who achieved great fame by distributing foodgrains and beef to Brahmins. Even later Brahminical texts provide the evidence for eating beef. Even Manusmriti did not prohibit the consumption of beef. The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad advocates that parents should eat rice cooked with beef or veal if they want a learned son who is a knower of the Vedas.

Is ban on cow slaughter actually what Hinduism teaches us? Even if it does, why is Indian nationalism being equated with Hinduism?
New definitions for Indian nationalism are being given. People have forgotten that we celebrate unity in diversity in India, which is what makes us special. People who are unaware of Indian culture and history are dictating to us the terms of nationalism and we fall prey to them because we are driven by our sentiments and do not question them.

Hyper nationalism works only to polarise, to divide, and to suppress individual freedoms. These are nothing but political stunts of right wing parties to emotionally exploit the citizens. The mass mentality of our nation works on emotions rather than logic. Anyone who holds different opinions than the homogenous construct of nationalism is labelled as anti-nationalist like Dalits who reject Brahminical Hinduism, people who refuse to stand up during national anthem in theatres, leftists who reject Hindutva, beef-eaters, inter-religious couples, Kashmiris, Maoists and others who argue for freedom from hunger, patriarchy and caste oppression.

Countries like Austria, Brazil, Myanmar, Egypt, Russia, China and Singapore demand mandatory military services from the male citizens. How many of our self proclaimed Indian nationalists today would be willing to fight for the nation at the borders?
We need to adopt progressive nationalism and a truer democracy that accommodates free speech. It is very unfortunate of the country that people with opinions on nationalism congruent to those of Albert Einstein, Rabindranath Tagore and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru are being tried for sedition and military tanks are being installed in educational institutions.

Nationalism is positive only when it eliminates the asymmetries between the puraskrit (privileged) and the bahishkrit(excluded) and goes beyond an understanding of the nation as a territorial or narrow cultural ideas.
We are the most educated class of the society. Despite that, we are unaware of the rights our constitution grants us and do not understand the meaning of nationalism, sedition and political agendas behind hyper-nationalism. It is our duty to be informed and aware of the events happening around us and not just be guided by emotional appeals.

We believe in what is served to us; our primary sources of information being social media and government mediated newspapers. My aim is just to make the readers think about these matters and to make them question what is right and what is wrong. I also understand that this is just my perspective and you might not agree to me and have conflicting opinions; that is the beauty of a democracy.