“Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”
Arundhati Roy
By M Ahmedullah
Nationalism can be grounded on racial, religious, ethnic or geographical grounds. I was a nationalist once. My nationalism was based on the propaganda of the Bengali nationalists during and after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
However, as a believer in science, facts, truth and honesty, I later found most of the claims of Bengali nationalism to be false and untenable – such as on the issues of ethnic and cultural identity issues, the nature and origin of Bengali/Urdu controversy, the cultural differences between Pakistanis and Bengalis, interpretations of the history of Bengal and so on and on.
But my theoretical understanding of the problems of nationalism and where its virulent energy comes from was developed over the years by reading materials, engaging with the thoughts of others and reflecting on society and cultural diversity from personal experiences. When I came to London as a child and mixed with Pakistani people, I found much common culture between us, and I could immediately relate to many things with Pakistani people in East London. I found some words that ordinary people use in our village in Bangladesh, and not part of the standard Bangla, were used by Pakistani people. In the same way, I found many things in common with Gujaratis, Sikhs and Malayam people I met in London.
Some insight I gained from studying and thinking about nationalism was how it emerges from the question of whether the glass is half-full or half-empty and the confusion created by the idea of the existence of two types of nationalism: one seeks to dominate, and the other develops to liberate. But unfortunately, they are both grounded on false generalisations that involve forced inclusions and exclusions, legitimisation and delegitimisation, hatred for the othered and love for the ours.
Certain ideas, insights and explanations of Syed Hussain Nasr, Ali Shariati and Karl Popper have helped me develop a profoundly critical, nuanced and complex understanding of nationalism. As a result, I understand the nationalist mindset quite well, how it grows and develops, and the false foundations – mostly mythical and invalid generalisations – on which it rests and does its dirty work – divide people, cause divisions and conflicts, and include and exclude people on arbitrary and inconsistent grounds.