The government has started a new initiative of ‘Har ghar Tirangaa’ flying the national flag in every house. I hear a lot of my educated, liberal friends being downright critical. What is the use of this? There are more important things to work on like development and infrastructure. No doubt, those are important things. At the same time if we were to study from ancient or recent history, like for example in the case of Ukraine, what's happening in one’s family, one’s wealth and development, one’s cultural heritage has absolutely no meaning if there aren't enough patriotic people in the country to defend the country and willing to risk their lives.
Patriotism is as much an emotion as an understanding of what the nation stands for. The history of the world is full of instances where conquered countries have suffered loss of wealth, loss of development, loss of culture, heritage, and sometimes even loss of their identity. Therefore, all this becomes meaningful if you have people patriotic enough to defend the nation. The sense of patriotism can be developed only if the emotional component is developed. For that we need symbols. The national flag is not just a piece of cloth. It is the symbol that stands for the nation, for its heritage, for the sacrifices made for the sake of our freedom, for our hopes, aspirations, both ancient and modern. So, if we hoist the flag and unfurl it in every house with some understanding, hopefully, we'll have a generation of people who are patriotic enough to defend the nation as necessary, not only as soldiers, but also in other fields.
I don’t think this is a gimmick. Our educated, liberal readers should understand what this is about and not look down upon it in a snooty fashion. When one travels abroad or even takes citizenship abroad, they are not interested in how much you know about their country but interested in how much you know about your country. Being a global or an international citizen includes an acceptance and not negation of our national identity.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
