IN recent times the debate over what constitutes nationalism and what sort of actions can be construed as being seditious have been occupying much media space. There is a proclivity by the ruling dispensation at Delhi, through its students’ wing to narrowly define nationalism and equate it with patriotism. Nationalism is an adopted term coming as it does from the idea of the nation which is again a western concept. In a nation it is assumed that citizens have equal rights and responsibilities and that there exist no discrimination by the state. Is that true of India? This is a country that is still battling caste discrimination after 68 years. Inequality whether that be of caste or gender is written into our DNA. Dalits, tribals and other backward classes remain the underdogs. The state has reserved seats for these categories in employment and education but when they do not get access even to basic education, their ability to get admission into institutions of higher learning is well nigh impossible.
However, more than the debate on nationalism and sedition what is more worrying is the idea of using soldiers to juxtapose them with groups that demand freedom of speech and expression as if to say that freedom of speech invariably implies being anti-state and therefore disrespectful to soldiers who die at our borders or in fighting armed militants in Kashmir and the North East. The military in India is administered by a civilian government. We are neither a theocratic state nor a military dictatorship but the recent posturing by some right wing elements; their voluble and despicable threats to those who ostensibly militate against their ideology is condemnable. However, there is also a tendency by the left liberal ideologues to push the debate to levels that cannot be readily grasped by millions in this country. In this tug of war between Right and Left the media has forgotten much of its responsibilities to the larger population of this country whose voices are muted. The media it appears has turned elitist by default. In the confusion that has ensued no one has tried to redefine nationalism in a manner that the ordinary citizen can relate to. This is imperative if we are not to have a civil war in this country