Idea of nation and nationalism
- IIPA Digest: Building capacity for governance
- 4(3), July - September, 2022: p. 6-7
“Let no man dare to call himself a nationalist if he does so merely with a sort of intellectual pride, thinking that he is more patriotic, thinking that he is something higher than those who do not call themselves by that name” this is a portion of a long speech, which Sri Aurobindo delivered in 1908 at Mahajan Wadi, Bombay. The sentiment and psychological expression or force between these lines contains an emotional expression called “Nationalism.” It is a state of mind associated with the supreme loyalty of an individual towards one’s native tradition, soil, or stablished territorial authority. But how it originated, developed, and historically shaped is a matter of debate. One group of scholars perceived it as a “socially active sentiment of attachment to land, language, and the cult (traditional patriotism) that culminated in the form of nationalism during the colonial period. But another group saw it as a cultural construct of colonialism. Unlike Europe, where its ‘loyalty” developed through industrialization, urbanization, and print capitalism, the Indian “loyalty” evolved through cultural interaction and shared identities of diverse social, geographical, and cultural groups of people in India. This phenomenon culminated in nationalism during the colonial regime by absorbing diverse social, religious, and linguistic groups. Thus Indian nationalism represents an inclusive and composite social integration. It is well articulated in the ideas and philosophy of architecture of modern India, which had multiplicity in their nationalist visions or idea of nationalism.- Reproduced