Nationalism - a cultural drift

It's become a new trend nowadays, people of this nation adopting pro-nationalistic ideologies very quickly. We are the spectators of a recent incident in the state Tripura - the incident of destroying Lenin statues with the reason he does not belong to this nation.

I don't find as it is a genuine reason, many such things happened in the history, Afghanistan is an easy example for us to remember. We all are condemned those incidents at that time and said those things are happening because of they wanted to destroy the culture from the grassroots is point number one, they wanted to wipe of history without any residues and make a new story as history which they wanted to perpetuate for next generations. So while we talking about the statues and idols there is a political and cultural agenda while keeping them in place, also there will be similar agenda for destroying them in the name of nationalism.

I personally don't support the statue culture but also against to destroy the existing ones.

If you ask me there nothing like nationalistic ideology really exist in the world, but it's a pre-designed game with keeping people unite to drive towards the goal post of pre-specified political objectives.

If any person still feel I am a nationalist, he may be forgetting that his day starts with an alarm made in Taiwan, and a cup of tea from leaves first planted by the British, his denim jeans designed in America, taking a Japanese Scooter or a Korean car to get to his office, where his official documents printed with german invented technology and ink on paper first pulped in Sweden, he uses phone most of them manufactured in China to invite friend to an Italian pizza or even if he thinks about an indan meal featuring naan that came to us from partia, tandoori chicken form uzbekistan, potatos and green chillies first came to India 400 hundred years ago form Latin America.

So as an educated individual we need to choose the right direction where there is a reason and logic behind the acts. But not in the name of cultural drift towards the patriotism and nationalism.

- Viswanath Jayanthi