On Nationalism & Others

For a world without border

Several fancy terms like hot pursuits and surgical terms have become so common these days in the wake of the rebel attacks and the counter-charge by the Indian state in Manipur earlier this month. Certain terms have as well slipped in our daily conversation: Burma, the Dogra Regiment, the relatively lesser known NSCN Khaplang faction, parachute journalists, AFSPA, more army and paramilitary forces, more umbrella groups of the militants and so on.

All of these signal towards a common entity. The nation. The rebels are fighting for sovereign nations while the government agencies are fighting to retain the status quo; however, it is not easy as it sounds. Nevertheless, it is not about the complexities or the simplification of nations and states. The ceaseless conflicts (with armed movements continuing for more than six decades till today) have necessitated that we have to do away with the existing concepts of politics. It is only a consequence that the nation should be the first casualty. And to re-emphasize the point, this is not about being anti-nation but more about being pro-human.