Author, historian and Thiruvananthapuram Congress MP Dr Sashi Tharoor admited that the ruling BJP has been better in reaching the last mile to get voters to vote and is better funded. Tharoor said he is proud to be a Hindu but against weaponisation of Hindu identity for a political purpose.
"The idea of civic nationalism that India once embodied has shifted towards ethno-religious and linguistic nationalism over the last 10 years," said Tharoor at Ideas of India Summit.
'Everything Is Good Is Great Rhetoric, But...'
The former diplomat further added: "We are an aspirational country and we must be. The kind of complacency we see when the government says that everything is good is great rhetoric, but reality hurts. Start-ups have fired more people than they have hired in the past two years. Foreign investments have dropped.”
The concept of nationalism, he explained, was an idea born in the 19th century centred around uniting people with shared traits. “Ethnicity, religion, and language were the primary criteria for this grouping. India's approach to nationalism evolved as a form of anti-colonial resistance. Our brand of nationalism distinguished itself from others and over the last ten years, the idea of civic nationalism that India embodied once changed to Ethno, religious, linguistic nationalism,” opined Dr Tharoor.
Tharoor Quotes Swami Vivekananda:
He continued that while Pakistan was established on the basis of religion, the logic that led to the country's partition did not resonate with the makers of Indian constitution at that time. “Our form of nationalism is civic, anchored in the constitution. I have a profound commitment to this version of India, the one I was raised in,” proclaimed the congress parliamentarian and reminiscent Swami Vivekananda's words “I believe in my truth, and you believe in your truth, but you have to accept my truth as well".
