Of National Days
Revolutions are the only political events which confront us directly and inevitably with the problem of beginning.
― HANNAH ARENDT
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| Belonging to an insurgency-rife, conflict zone, to begin with, we have always seen occasions like the Republic Day and Independence Day are a day of general strike that is no less than a public curfew. |
What is the significance of national in a conflict zone? Above all, the conflict is over the question of nationality.
Days like January 26, August 15 and October 2 bring out the true colours of India, not necessarily its tricolour but in various shades of greys and murky undertones. Yes, it became republic, got independence and its father was physically born on these days respectively, yet there are different narratives on these seemingly memorable moments of national significance.
Belonging to an insurgency-rife, conflict zone, to begin with, we have always seen occasions like the Republic Day and Independence Day are a day of general strike that is no less than a public curfew. Pressure groups, civil society organisations and student associations make prior announcements when they are calling for strikes as a mode of protest but it is a given, at least, for the two aforementioned dates —except the Gandhi Sr Day — that these days are general strikes. And India — through its agents in the name of federalism, or the ever-responsible State Government in most cases, and in so many ways as in making attendance mandatory for employees in public sector—would always ensure that it is an ‘internal’ issue of the big, fat Indian Nation-State.
National days are just a mere exercise of a pocketful of power-hungry people who want to dominate the masses, using a call to emotions aroused by ‘national’ identities that mean nothing in everyday life. These are as well a response from people, mostly clingy people, who love identifying themselves with—out of all the things in the universe — a place they were born in, and ironically to a parent, to a religion, to an ethnicity, to a social class they could do nothing about. I know it for real because I do it, albeit in my own defence, this is not the only thing that I do.
Noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama, and who is not a great fan of identity politics, writes in Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment that identity politics exists because of ‘thymos’, a Greek word for ‘spiritedness’, or in his words the basic human need for respect. If we were ever respectful in the first place, why would we need such mono-giant called ‘Nation’ or ‘Nation-state’, or whatever politico-linguistically correct terms these are defined with?
A nation is as imaginary and speculative as we would think about the childhood stories of Benedict Anderson or reflection on ‘imagined community’. It might not even a ‘term’ before the Westphalian peace treaty! It keeps changing, evolving and the relationship of these ‘imagined communities’ is too political to be a static entity. Most of the time in history as well it was the king, his kingdom and his stories. A concept like the ‘Nation’ was only as good as an unknown dream. Now and then, communities like the Nagas would reinvent terms like a ‘unique history’ to keep up with the overall change. However, it does not change the fact. The concept of a ‘Nation’ is farce and its adherents are perhaps, the thinkers of no worth. At all—and in numbers, just like we would have the number of court jesters during the times of the king and the kingdom.
Today is June 19. It is the 170th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar but going by the concept of ‘Nations’ and their ‘National Days’, the number can jump to zero to a googleplex or whatever number is you are comfortable with. On any day or week or month. All we need is a ‘social revolution’. Just for a reminder, my community does not follow a solar calendar! January 26, August 15 and October 2 fall on different days. Even the lunar calendar does have a pattern but that’s not the point.
Belonging to an insurgency-rife, conflict zone, to begin with, we have always seen occasions like the Republic Day and Independence Day are a day of general strike that is no less than a public curfew. Pressure groups, civil society organisations and student associations make prior announcements when they are calling for strikes as a mode of protest but it is a given, at least, for the two aforementioned dates —except the Gandhi Sr Day — that these days are general strikes. And India — through its agents in the name of federalism, or the ever-responsible State Government in most cases, and in so many ways as in making attendance mandatory for employees in public sector—would always ensure that it is an ‘internal’ issue of the big, fat Indian Nation-State.
National days are just a mere exercise of a pocketful of power-hungry people who want to dominate the masses, using a call to emotions aroused by ‘national’ identities that mean nothing in everyday life. These are as well a response from people, mostly clingy people, who love identifying themselves with—out of all the things in the universe — a place they were born in, and ironically to a parent, to a religion, to an ethnicity, to a social class they could do nothing about. I know it for real because I do it, albeit in my own defence, this is not the only thing that I do.
Noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama, and who is not a great fan of identity politics, writes in Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment that identity politics exists because of ‘thymos’, a Greek word for ‘spiritedness’, or in his words the basic human need for respect. If we were ever respectful in the first place, why would we need such mono-giant called ‘Nation’ or ‘Nation-state’, or whatever politico-linguistically correct terms these are defined with?
A nation is as imaginary and speculative as we would think about the childhood stories of Benedict Anderson or reflection on ‘imagined community’. It might not even a ‘term’ before the Westphalian peace treaty! It keeps changing, evolving and the relationship of these ‘imagined communities’ is too political to be a static entity. Most of the time in history as well it was the king, his kingdom and his stories. A concept like the ‘Nation’ was only as good as an unknown dream. Now and then, communities like the Nagas would reinvent terms like a ‘unique history’ to keep up with the overall change. However, it does not change the fact. The concept of a ‘Nation’ is farce and its adherents are perhaps, the thinkers of no worth. At all—and in numbers, just like we would have the number of court jesters during the times of the king and the kingdom.
Today is June 19. It is the 170th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar but going by the concept of ‘Nations’ and their ‘National Days’, the number can jump to zero to a googleplex or whatever number is you are comfortable with. On any day or week or month. All we need is a ‘social revolution’. Just for a reminder, my community does not follow a solar calendar! January 26, August 15 and October 2 fall on different days. Even the lunar calendar does have a pattern but that’s not the point.
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Read: The National Interest
Number of state-based conflicts by type, since 1946
(State-based conflicts since 1946, 1946 to 2016)
(Source:Our World in Data)
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