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Patriotism or Party-otism


“Thok Thok Sale lai”, a group of young protesters with lathi in their hands yelled as I was driving my motorbike through Chabahil road to my office in Battisputali. I still remember what I underwent at the moment. My hand and legs were shaking. Though I reached my office unharmed, the yell of warning to me and the slogans of ‘patriotism’ resonated in my mind all through the day.

Numbers of question have arisen in my mind since that event: ‘What is patriotism?’, ‘who are the patriots?’, ‘how is patriotism expressed?’, and so on.  To have pride in one’s country with an intense love of her and a zealous devotion to her interests is usually called patriotism. However, in the name of devotion and love, sometimes patriotism takes the form of fanaticism and jingoism which is wrong. (Is it necessary every time to take recourse to violence to express one’s patriotic feelings?)

After the modern nation-states were born in the 1500s, patriotism has been a subject to debate. There have been widely varied attitudes towards it. And in instances, unforgivable oppressions have been committed in the name of patriotism. If one looks to the historical precedent, one sees many such instances when patriotism has been “the refuge of a scoundrel” as Samuel Johnson argued.

In Nepal too, patriotism has been subject to the use and abuse.  Certain groups with their own ideology have been misusing it by misinterpreting its essence. What they fail to acknowledge is that patriotism is a feeling that should automatically come inside one’s heart. And also it is not necessary every time that one should take recourse to violence in the name of patriotism. By thrashing the Indian ‘pundit’, one can not claim himself of being patriotic to the country.

I love my country and it need be, I will fight for my country using my mind and muscle. Patriotic feeling arises in my heart whenever the country is in trouble. It is the feeling that binds the people from different walks of life in one block setting aside the differences. It is building the national strength through solidarity especially in the face of a common enemy. But by burning the vehicle of a common Nepali and misbehaving the innocent ones, one can never be called patriotic.

We Nepali have been blindly following the patriotism as defined by the political parties or any other ideological groups. (So, I use a term party-otism) What we should not forget is that patriotism does not mean to stand by the king or the president or the prime minister or any other ‘leader’. It is rather to stand by the country. Loyalty to the country should not mean loyalty to any particular ethic or cultural or political group.

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