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Nationalism in India is being anti-Pakistan and anti-China

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Nationalism in India is being anti-Pakistan and anti-China - Rediff.com India News



Nationalism in India is being anti-Pakistan and anti-China
August 25, 2015 11:37 IST

‘The assumption is that the lines have been drawn and the two sides (India and Pakistan) have gone to battle. All of us, whether analysts or politicians or citizens or cricketers or housewives, must see the other side as an enemy and must reject everything it says or does even if we gain nothing from it. I am no longer able to subscribe to this stupidity,’ says Aakar Patel.

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It is not easy being a television analyst in times, such as they are now, when India is at war with Pakistan.

Not a real war of course, because we can no longer have such a thing after the mindless fireworks of Pokhran and Chagai.

I mean this childish sparring over whether or not we should have talks. To me it is difficult to understand why we are stopping people from meeting in this day and age when they can communicate whatever they want to over Skype and telephone and email and the rest.

But perhaps I do not understand the subtleties of international diplomacy. What appears to me to be stupidity and stubbornness might well actually be some stroke of Chanakyan genius.

Anyway, what I was saying was that it is not easy to be an analyst in these times when one is independent-minded. It is not possible for me to take the party line or the national line as seems to come so easily to others in the studio.

To me fact and context are important. I was blindly nationalistic for a long time but one matures as one reads and encounters the world.

One understands the nature of regional nationalism as being zero-sum. Meaning I can only win if you lose and are seen to lose, and any benefit to you necessarily comes at a loss to me.

What is the nature of our nationalism here in India? It is anti-Pakistan and anti-China.

It does not allow for nuance or shade. We have to fully subscribe to it or be seen as defiant if not outright hostile. We have always to be anti-Pakistan even if there is damage to us or no benefit to India in such a position (and there is zero benefit to India in not allowing old Sartaj Aziz to meet the blowhards of the Hurriyat).

We belittle India, ‘the world's largest democracy' as we do not tire reminding people, when we lock up our own citizens for fear that they will gossip with the enemy.

We show ourselves as not a confident republic by such actions. This must be obvious to the most closed-minded analyst. And yet to say this on television is to elicit gasps of astonishment and accusations of being anti-national.

The other thing is being labeled when one holds a particular view in a particular instance. This comes from our conviction that all of us are dyed in some sort of ideology that cannot be escaped through logic and reason.

We loosely use terms like 'left' and 'liberal' and 'right' without properly understanding them. I suppose one reason is that we have categories which are based on hate, like Hindutva, which offers nothing positive to Hindus, only anger and bitterness against Muslims and Christians.

People who have this sort of hatred will find it difficult to separate their mindset and their emotion from the issue at hand, whatever it may be. But why must we all line up in agreement behind them?

I do not and cannot.

One anchor said during the debate that ‘we all are agreed in the studio that Pakistan is to blame if the talks collapse’. But I was not agreed. It was just assumed that because this was an India versus Pakistan issue, all Indians would or should back the government position.

The assumption is that the lines have been drawn and the two sides have gone to battle. All of us, whether analysts or politicians or citizens or cricketers or housewives, must see the other side as an enemy and must reject everything it says or does even if we gain nothing from it.

I am no longer able to subscribe to this stupidity. This makes TV appearances difficult for me.

The clever ones will ask why I continue to do if I hate it so much or at least find it unpleasant, which I do. The reason is of course that I am paid to do this work. And sometimes, not often, it is enjoyable.

The other reason is that there are some who may also think in the same way as I do. It may not be a large number, but I would like to believe that there is a group of us who reject the madness and the pettiness.

Aakar Patel is Executive Director, Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are personal.
 
India is a huge Country - second largest in terms of its Population, but its Media remains hugely biased and petty minded.

If you are a huge country, your leaders and your media should start acting like they belong to a big country and stop this petty squabbling like a small " Third World " Country people.
 
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India is a huge Country - second largest in terms of its Population, but its Media remains hugely biased and petty minded.

If you are a huge country, its leaders and its media should start acting like a big country and stop this petty squabbling like a small " Third World " Country.

Indian media especially leaves much to be desired, Highly sensationalist and insecure
 
Nationalism based upon hatered is bound to doom........

India is a huge Country - second largest in terms of its Population, but its Media remains hugely biased and petty minded.

If you are a huge country, its leaders and its media should start acting like a big country and stop this petty squabbling like a small " Third World " Country.
Off topic....... but I am still waiting for your answer on RM thread....
 
Some days ago Nationalism in India was all about being Hindu now its about being anti Pakistan & China I am sure in a few days we'll see words like Pro BJP added to this.

Media can hype up things , can make people real angry at times but what it can't change is the main issues for an avg Indian which still revolves around his basic necessities , ambitions and survival and that of his family.
An Indian feels nationalism when we rise , when we see development not when we hate our neighbours .
 
Patel???

Amnesty??
:blink:
enuff said..


You can't just discount by saying who he is and who he works for.

You have to address the question he has raised and answer it with logic.

Rolling your eyes and shrugging your shoulders like a teenager does not cut it.

Does his criticism have any merit ? If you disagree with the point he has raised then what is your logical rebuttal ?
 
You can't just discount by saying who he is and who he works for.

You have to address the question he has raised and answer it with logic.

Rolling your eyes and shrugging your shoulders like a teenager does not cut it.

Does his criticism have any merit ? If you disagree with the point he has raised then what is your logical rebuttal ?
First of all my friend,
Do tell did you read his previous blogs or just you dumped on to this news and posted here.
He has anti- India element in every piece of his.
So that's why you see my comment on just his name.
 
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Patel???

Amnesty??
:blink:
enuff said..

Akhar Patel is a harmless fool, it is the likes of Manishankar Ayer and Jairam Ramesh who have good chance of being in Govt and yet harming our national interests we have to beware of

Regards
 
First of all my friend,
Do tell did you read his previous blogs or just you dumped on this news and posted here.
He has anti- India element in every piece of his.
So that's why you see my comment on just his name.


Even fools can sometimes stumble onto the TRUTH.

He may or may not have credibility in the eyes of some Indians.

But the point is whether his narrative has any validity.

IF NOT , WHY NOT ?
 
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As Gujrat government denied reservation for patel community... Aakar Patel is acting vehement ... pure vengeance nothing personal...:angry::angry:
 

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