Defining Identity

Shri. Trump’s win in the recent Presidential elections of the United States of America gave rise to the debate between the popular votes and the electoral college. In India, too, the current government, lead by the BJP, came into being despite the fact that the party had won only about 39% of the votes polled, implying that about 61% of the people did not want the BJP in power. But with our multi-party system, it emerged as the single party with the highest percentage of votes and an absolute majority of the parliamentary seats. 

The two countries are unique, one as being the oldest democracy and, the other, as being the largest. And in both cases, the fate of the people was sealed by the very democratic process practised by them, albeit seeming unfair to some.

When the BJP, supported by the RSS, came to power, it was perceived as a right-wing-wave. However, it was less of that and more of other factors - anti-incumbency, there is no alternative (famously abbreviated as TINA!), etc.,- that brought them to the helm of affairs in the country. In Shri. Trump’s case, too, it is being analysed as a right wing movement, similar to that which voted in favour of BREXIT. Shri. Trump’s win has given France’s Marine Le Pen a fresh boost of hope of coming to power; but it must be understood that a politician as a candidate is different from a politician as an incumbent. As a candidate the politician’s focus remains on winning, and as an incumbent it sees a tectonic shift in being a leader of a Nation and Her people. And therein lies the difference!

The BJP’s coming to power in the 2014 elections saw an impetus in the of left-of-centre ideology. A young Nation saw its youth defining and shaping a ‘neo-nationalist’ spirit. Many of the older citizens found that their freedoms were being curtailed. This developed into an activism - in universities, among the intellectuals - and a resentment for the ideologies of the BJP. However, the BJP, itself has always maintained being a secular party and dodged the questions on the rise of ‘secular, left-wing’ activism, redefining the very meaning of nationalism. 

Benedict Anderson’s theory of a Nation as an imagined community defines a Nation as a a coming together of people who perceive themselves as part of a group. It is irrespective of the origins of the people, and lays an emphasis on the sprit of the people. In India, this could mean a Kannada nationalism, a Bengali nationalism etc, as people imagine themselves as belonging to these specific communities. But above all this, is the nationalism that holds this country of 29 States, 880 languages (31 are recognised by the State), 8 religions, about 7 races, and, cuisine that is believed to be different every 100 kms of the country, together. One may be a Hindu, but above that one is an Indian; one may be a Bengali but s/he would put being an Indian higher.

It’s hard to zero in on the original inhabitants of a country. After all, it is believed that the modern Homo Sapiens migrated to Europe and Asia from Africa! By that token, all countries are lands of migrants, except, probably, those in the continent of Africa. So, laying ownership to a country and defining Nationalism by narrow concepts of race, colour, language etc., seem trivial when recalling Anderson’s explanation of a Nation as an imagined community. Many immigrants owe their success to the Nation that the USA has taken pride in being - a country that puts merit above all else. They see themselves as part of that spirit that defines the nationalism of the USA. They see themselves as being American, albeit the hyphenated kind! To want only the economic effects of globalisation and not the social impacts of it might seem a tad juvenile. 

I recollect having mentioned in an earlier post, my own mixed ethnicity. I see myself as a South Indian and a Maharashtrian and I enjoy, equally, what the rich cultures of both have to offer to me - I love my Kanjeevarams as much as I enjoy the Abhangs, the ‘peNi’ as much I enjoy the modak; I also love patra, gonkura chutney, luchi-aloodum and chole . And I manage to speak 6 Indian languages! Having grown up in various parts of India, I have also imbibed a bit of every nook that comprises this Nation. I cannot put myself into a compartment in a box! For, if I did so, I would be depriving myself of the pleasures of the other rich cultures that are a part of me. But if you ask me, I’d always say I am first an Indian and everything else only later…much later.