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A nationalism of paranoia and insecurity

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A nationalism of paranoia and insecurity Empty A nationalism of paranoia and insecurity

Post by confuzzled dude Sat Sep 24, 2016 2:24 pm

The nationalism of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar was inflected by a sense of shame. They were ashamed at our treatment of women and Dalits. Indian nationalism as conceived by them was a work in progress. It was not flawless, it was always imperfect. And the attempt would be to always strive to correct these imperfections. As opposed to a nationalism that says: “India is great”, “India is perfect”, “mera bharat mahaan”, “Bharat mata ki jai” or “worship the flag”. The idea that there should be a 207 foot high flag in every central university which you can see from everywhere and it will make you proud is utterly farcical. It is a nationalism of insecurity and paranoia parading as a nationalism of might and self-confidence.
Gandhi said famously in Young India in 1921 that when we are free, we would remove the sedition law. He also gave a definition of freedom of speech, which says unless you explicitly advocate violence, whatever you say [should not be proscribed.]

In fact, you are told, Modi has won for five years, you cannot criticize him. Or Mamata has won for five years, you cannot criticize her. But democracy is a process of continuous introspection, questioning and reform. This is a part of the degeneration of the Indian democracy into an elections-only democracy.
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/this-is-a-nationalism-of-paranoia-and-insecurity-ramachandra-guha-3047705/

I totally support Guha's viewpoint. India will not progress till Indians stop living in a parallel universe and stop being defensive about India's shortcomings.

confuzzled dude

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Join date : 2011-05-08

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