A friend said to me today "Isn't there a thin line between freedom of speech and anti-nationalism?". I have heard this expression "thin line" a million times but never really gave it a second thought. But it is time to do so.
For there to be a line BETWEEN two objects or concepts (A)They must be mutually exclusive (B)They must be logically juxtaposed.
Thus we have a line between legality and illegality, truth and falsehood, good and bad, black and white and so on and so forth. One might want to add that all things separated by a line seem to represent opposites or at least form a spectrum whose two ends might be deemed to be opposites.
Herein lies a great (mis) opportunity to fabricate spectrums and hence opposites. I can take any two obviously unconnected ideas or beliefs, forcibly juxtapose them in my mind and if I have the authority, impose the fabricated spectrum on others.
I could perforce create a spectrum out of poetry and savagery and say if you are not a poet or a lover of poetry then you are a savage.
I could juxtapose Mathematics and Stupidity and say if you are not good at Mathematics then you are Stupid.
If you are too much into Mathematics then you are Eccentric.
If you are too critical of your own country (which includes yourself) then you are a traitor. This can easily be achieved by grabbing Criticism of One's Country in the left hand, picking up Treachery in the right hand and joining them together.
Note that we can create a case for condemning absolutely ANYBODY on earth if we have the authority.
To accomplish such welding jobs one needs to be either a willful liar or deluded. Both attributes appear copiously among human beings.
All we needed to establish the described fabrication was A LINE. Start playing around with its thickness and the opportunities multiply.
We know that the structure of human DNA is so
complex and intriguing that the best of human minds have spent millions of
person hours attempting to figure it out and millions more remain to be
spent. Then what about the world of
human thought, beliefs and ideas ... what is its geometric form? Not only must
it be many times more complex than DNA, it evolves at a fairly steady
pace. However some of us might be
believing that the world of human
thinking is coplanar with ideologies and beliefs being a jigsaw of pieces. They pick up these pieces and shuffle their
positions to arrive at outcomes convenient to them at any point of time.
I have read that a nationalist places his country above the human ideas about right and wrong. So, he might hate an ordinary citizen of an 'enemy' country without even knowing him. Or, do grievous wrong if he feels that his actions are good for his country.
ReplyDeleteI think the term 'anti national' does not capture any clear idea. If you think someone is a traitor, simply call him a traitor.
Abhik
Nationalism is defined in the dictionary as a collective feeling amongst people of a certain geography, of seeking independent existence for preserving their cultural/ ethnic identity that is seen to hold them together.
ReplyDeleteIndian society is pluralistic, encompassing multiple religions & cultural identities. So if one is accused of being anti-national in India, it can only be on grounds of advocating destruction of this complex cultural milieu or of the geographical entity that is the country itself. That is to say, integrity towards country is compromised. This is quite aside from being critical of the country or of its government.
Some slogans raised in JNU recently were distinctly anti-national when seen in this context and need to be condemned. But most other accusations of ‘anti-nationalism’ were mere disagreements with one’s notion of ‘nationalism’. To add to confusion, there are some who are trying to differentiate between nationalism and patriotism. Media is a culprit too, engineering as it wants to do, a fresh controversy each passing day…