The Nationalism debate: A modern Indian perspective
Abstract
Indian scholars and western scholars have presented different views regarding emergence of Indian nationalism. Scholars like Benedict Anderson are of the view that Indian Nationalism emerged in India because of British rule. According to Anderson, print media and railways helped in the emergence of nationalism. Valentine Chirol refuses Indian Nationalism. Another British scholar, Christopher Belle has tried to find the roots of Indian nationalism in ancient India. According to him, good government and patriotism always existed in ancient India. Anthony Smith focuses on understanding the origins and formation of modern nations to understand nationalism. Cultural identity is an important part of nations. Smith has found ethno-history as an important part of modern nations. The major concern with ethno-symbolism is the manner in which modern world’s nations have been formed. Smith has seen nationalism as a modern ideological movement. Nationalism is aspiration for various social groups to defend, create or maintain nations. Nationalism maintains autonomy, identity and unity of nations. SekharBandyopadhyay argues about the reasons that were responsible for the rise of nationalism in India. Cristopher Jaffrelot writes about the monopolization of the Hindu nationalist movement on the front pages of Indian newspaper in 1990s when BhartiyaJanta Party (BJP) came strongly Indian political arena. RadhakumudMookerji argues about the existence of nationalism in ancient Indian society, particularly, in Hindu culture. Mookerji states that ancient Indian society had a systematic bureaucracy, rules and laws. Big empires were setup by the kings like Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka and Gupta Kings. Trade and commerce developed during these empires. Mahatma Gandhi argues about nationalism through his non-violent ideology whereas RavindraNath Tagore sees nationalism as a tool of violence. In this sense, the present paper is an attempt to understand the debate on Indian nationalism. This paper will also limelight on different views on the ideology and nature of Indian nationalism.
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