VIOLENT BINARIES OF JINGOISTIC NATIONALISM !

Nationalism reduced to hunting for enemies who think differently makes nationalism an enemy of thought. The idea of culture is impossible without a certain freedom of ideas challenging each other. If nationalism cannot argue its case without allowing that freedom to exist and thrive, it divests itself from the fundamental meaning of culture. That is why we can no longer speak of any culture of nationalism. Rather we have to speak of the violence of nationalism against the idea of culture itself. Educational institutions are the primary spaces of cultural life. To harm the intellectual liberties of such institutions by the display of hooliganism showcases the fear of arguments by students of hyper-nationalist organisations. It is rather disturbing when you realize that students of a certain political predilection are prepared to do politics without ideas, which translates into a politics against ideas.

If the crisis of nationalism has come about due to the ideas and actions of those who challenge and critique it, why not challenge that crisis in turn by placing your arguments on the table? Or else, what prevents the ‘argumentative Indian’ from concluding that the crisis of nationalism has been brought on by the proponents of nationalism themselves? The argumentative Indian makes no sense if s/he belongs to the thought-police of any ideology. It is the argumentative Indian who has resisted the governments of all political parties as much as s/he has fought against corporates and challenged the corrupt in bureaucracy and law. It is the argumentative Indian who has not stopped asking questions about 1984 and 2002. The cowards who fear the power of thinking should not delude themselves into believing s/he can be so easily silenced.