Nationalism Is Not In Sync With Universalism
The honourable Supreme Court has passed a verdict that movie theatres across the country must play the national anthem prior to screening a movie and the audience must stand up to showtheir unwavering cespect to it, but this goes againstthe wery spirit of universalism. Nationalism is not in sync with aniversalism and the exalted concept of wasudhaiva kutumbakam, that the whole world is one family. It's good to love one's country, but why shouldn't this love extend beyond the boundaries of one's country to embrace all? Somewhere there's a collective lack of evolution in all of us that we still like to call ourselves as Indians, Pakistanis, Brits or, as Punjabis, South Indians, Maharashtrians, and so on. 'Mankind is atribe of animals, living by habits and thinking in symbols; and it can never be anythingelse,'observed George Santayana. Wemustn't forget that national pride is a modernform of tribalism. It's extreme parochialism. Einstein said that 'Nationalism is the measles of mankind." Any-ism or ideology, however lofty it may seem or sound, is a specialised prejudice-as is nationalism because human beings are indoctrinated to love their respective countries. But a nation, like one's caste, creed and country, is an accident of birth. You didn't choose your country or creed. You were accidentally born into it. So why is there so much nationalistic fervour and religious arrogance? This smacks of rank ignorance and obstinacy. Ideological allegiance of any sort is the root of all evil and it's a bane, rather than a boon, to humankind. The constant strife and bad-blooр that we're witnessing all over the world We've stopped growing up in tellectually and spiritually and have remained stranded on the lowest rung of human civilisation. To quote Ghalib: 'Bas ke dushwaar hai har kaam ka aasaan hona/Aadmiko bhi mayassar nahin insaan hona'-It's just difficult for things to be simple/Even a man cannot become an insaan. It's worthwhile to know the difference between an admi and insaan from the perspective of Quranic Arabic language and Islamic theology. An 'admi' is a person who breathes ('dam': breath) and dies, doing nothingelse of significance; whereas an insaan is one who has reached the desired level of perfection by loving all as equals. He's an egalitarian discrimination whatsoever. The word 'insaan' came from the Arabic word 'uns'which means 'love'. The same sentiments were expressed by Urdu poet-lyricistShakeel Badayuni when he lamhuman beings, 'Apni hasti ka bhinsaan ko irfaan na hua/Khaakkhaak thi, auqaat se aage na gayMan has lost sight of his innateintrinsicgreatness/After all, c cannot go beyond that because its limitation. The human bodymade of panchtattva or five elerand clay is one of them. Why do we have to fightfor ourrespective countries, states, terriand faiths? Look at the world fromspace. Earth is just one among maplanets in space that is home to sEgalaxies each with their own starsystems. Yet, we obsess over smalgeographical areas. Go beyond allideological restrictions and conditions and whole world your extended familwe do that, we'll continue to wallcnationalism and parochialism.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Sumit Paul views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Sumit Paul Speaking Tree,Times of India
Nationalism Is Not In Sync With Universalism
The honourable Supreme Court has passed a verdict that movie theatres across the country must play the national anthem prior to screening a movie and the audience must stand up to showtheir unwavering cespect to it, but this goes againstthe wery spirit of universalism. Nationalism is not in sync with aniversalism and the exalted concept of wasudhaiva kutumbakam, that the whole world is one family. It's good to love one's country, but why shouldn't this love extend beyond the boundaries of one's country to embrace all? Somewhere there's a collective lack of evolution in all of us that we still like to call ourselves as Indians, Pakistanis, Brits or, as Punjabis, South Indians, Maharashtrians, and so on. 'Mankind is atribe of animals, living by habits and thinking in symbols; and it can never be anythingelse,'observed George Santayana. Wemustn't forget that national pride is a modernform of tribalism. It's extreme parochialism. Einstein said that 'Nationalism is the measles of mankind." Any-ism or ideology, however lofty it may seem or sound, is a specialised prejudice-as is nationalism because human beings are indoctrinated to love their respective countries. But a nation, like one's caste, creed and country, is an accident of birth. You didn't choose your country or creed. You were accidentally born into it. So why is there so much nationalistic fervour and religious arrogance? This smacks of rank ignorance and obstinacy. Ideological allegiance of any sort is the root of all evil and it's a bane, rather than a boon, to humankind. The constant strife and bad-blooр that we're witnessing all over the world We've stopped growing up in tellectually and spiritually and have remained stranded on the lowest rung of human civilisation. To quote Ghalib: 'Bas ke dushwaar hai har kaam ka aasaan hona/Aadmiko bhi mayassar nahin insaan hona'-It's just difficult for things to be simple/Even a man cannot become an insaan. It's worthwhile to know the difference between an admi and insaan from the perspective of Quranic Arabic language and Islamic theology. An 'admi' is a person who breathes ('dam': breath) and dies, doing nothingelse of significance; whereas an insaan is one who has reached the desired level of perfection by loving all as equals. He's an egalitarian discrimination whatsoever. The word 'insaan' came from the Arabic word 'uns'which means 'love'. The same sentiments were expressed by Urdu poet-lyricistShakeel Badayuni when he lamhuman beings, 'Apni hasti ka bhinsaan ko irfaan na hua/Khaakkhaak thi, auqaat se aage na gayMan has lost sight of his innateintrinsicgreatness/After all, c cannot go beyond that because its limitation. The human bodymade of panchtattva or five elerand clay is one of them. Why do we have to fightfor ourrespective countries, states, terriand faiths? Look at the world fromspace. Earth is just one among maplanets in space that is home to sEgalaxies each with their own starsystems. Yet, we obsess over smalgeographical areas. Go beyond allideological restrictions and conditions and whole world your extended familwe do that, we'll continue to wallcnationalism and parochialism.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Sumit Paul views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Sumit Paul Speaking Tree,Times of India