How Patriotism has Become a Public Performance?

Georgekutty M V

Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) was just got over. In the national capital, wherever you see, in advertisements, newspapers, walls, metro stations, malls, autorickshaws, railway and bus terminals, the Zomato or Swiggy delivery boy’s bike, Tiranga is displayed. If you travel in Delhi metro, one can see the huge flags flying all across the capital. Those huge installations are permanent ones spending lakhs of rupees.

The residential welfare associations conducted Tiranga marches as per government instructions. Interestingly, the government created a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Independence Day celebrations. Besides, part of the AKAM, the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign is launched to ” encourage the citizens to hoist the National Flag in their homes.” The celebrations are not limited to August 15th, instead, they started much earlier according to the SOP. The government directive is given to educational institutions across the country to follow the proposed standard, a  monolithic set of procedures and practices.

For instance, as per the SOP, the students are told to organise ‘Prabhat Pheris’ between August 11-15 and encouraged to sell national flags in their neighbourhood. Moreover, the students, faculties and staff are required to hoist the national flag in their household from August 13th onwards. A national website – https://harghartiranga.com/ – is created exclusively to post ‘selfies with the flag’ for individuals and institutions. Uttar Pradesh is ahead of the competition and public display of patriotism with a target of 4.5 crore flags by spending Rs. 40 crores on tricolours for the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.

Public Display Of Patriotism As The New Normal

On August 13th, I witnessed a Tiranga march by the school students led by teachers through the market area. All students were dressed in white colour, and chanting slogans in high volume; ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Vande Mataram’ etc… The small kids were shouting the slogans as were told by their teachers. The teachers were instructed by the great leader to publicly display their ‘love for the nation’ by arranging rallies.

In contemporary India, no one believes your patriotic credentials unless and until you make a public display of it. The timing of the display and how to do it would be instructed to everyone by the great leader. In other words, obeying the great leader is patriotism and love for the nation. If someone resist the instructions of the great leader, they will be branded asan  anti-national and anti-great leader. Since the great leader assumes the mantle of patriotism, everyone is supposed to follow in his footsteps. Besides, a selfie with Tiranga posted in harghartiranga.com will be awarded with a certificate.

This patriotism certificate issued by the great leader would be the new idea of India. A mad competition is set afoot by the great leader with his competitors. The great leader is facing stiff opposition in terms of more flags, more public displays, more noise and more mimicry.

Patriotism As Coercion

One may think that what is wrong with creating a standard procedure for Independence Day celebrations, given its 75th anniversary? However, creating a monolithic practice nationwide, under the garb of nationalism is worrisome. Though in appearance, the practice does not tamper with any rights of individuals or Indian states, a curious pattern of centralisation and mimicry is visible.

The proposed ‘encouragement’ to hoist the national flag in homes might metamorphose into coercion to do so. Already in places like Anantnag and Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir, the campaign became controversial when government officers forced the residents to pay in advance for national flags which many had refused to do. In Haryana, the authorities are forcing the people to buy Rs. 20 Tiranga to avail the benefit of the public distribution system. Instead of buying the flag, Rs. 20 worth of rice or wheat may have sustained their life.

Ultra-nationalism and uncontrolled patriotic display have a tendency to overlook the people’s basic needs. The national flag symbolises unity and represents our collective anti-colonial struggle for independence. However, the symbols of unity could be used against societal unity and have the potential to become a weapon to produce enemies of the nation. What happens to a family or a person when they refuse to hoist the national flag? That may not be always out of disrespect but could happen at times against the intimidation to hoist one.

Amid the flurry of the emotional outburst over the national flag, this could self-evidently produce collective passion to punish the individual or a specific group of people. Since the supreme leader is ‘encouraging’ the people to create an unusual celebration, his foot soldiers might go one step ahead as the new normal practice nowadays. For instance, the foot soldiers might check the homes and individuals who refuse to comply with the ‘order’ from their great leader.

They might use coercive methods, intimidations, boycotts and direct physical violence to comply with the supreme leader’s ‘encouragement.’ Besides, an emotional outburst took over the social media, in WhatsApp statuses, Instagram reels, Facebook posts, and Twitter handles. Desh Prem is expected to reflect through social media profiles and it could become a tool to assess one’s love for the nation. It is nothing but national jingoism and it would precipitate disunity.

National Jingoism

What the great leader wants is an emotional outburst over the national flag which can obliterate all other vital concerns affecting the everyday life of the society. The tricolour has natural respect among the cross-section of Indian society and the majority accept it as a respectable national symbol.

However, what the great leader does is to use that natural respect to produce an artificial emotional outburst. Depending upon the usage, the symbol of unity could very well metamorphose into a symbol of coercion, intimidation and physical violence. For the Supreme leader and his cohorts, the national flag is a tool to avert criticisms and questions. They manipulate these symbols and force upon society to remember once a year the long way we have come since independence. They reignite the selective memories of the glorious anti-colonial struggle and the roles their predecessors played and reincarnate as their successors.

The ruling class wants the continuing allegiance of the people to precipitate the legitimacy of their hold on power. They want to redirect the people’s attention from questions which relate to crucial issues of everyday life, such as, unemployment, inflation, and price rise. Hence, we all should be cautious about this kind of manipulation that could effectively hinder our national unity.