Under a news item, Bal Thackeray has decried Sania as not Indian enough, and from my Facebook browsing, I'm sorry to say that many of my friends agree. What I fail to understand, however, is how can one judge one's indian-ness or non-indian-ness from what views one holds about another country. Okay, so she's getting married to a Pakistani...so merely the fact that she is friendly with a Pakistani is enough to decry her as a non-Indian!
I mean, such a narrow construction of nationalism, which is supposed to thrive on hate for other nations, rather than pride in one's own, is truly regrettable.
Consider if this was the way the world operated, then all economies would actually close down, because trade ultimately benefits both the nations involved in it. International laws and treaties would never be respected. Cultural exchanges between nations would completely shut down. In other words, we would be living under enclosed walls, built up by the mortar of despise and the brick of hatred. Is this really the world we'd like to live in?
In such a scenario, one should be wary of the direction in which nationalism seems to be heading. Mistrust and disgust is certainly not how the world thrives, and any exaggerated ideas of nationalism incorporating these should be viewed with a careful eye, and heard with guarded ear, rather than blind internalisation.
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