Is Patriotism Still Relevant?

Submitted by rajat on

Submitted by arpitv007 on Tue, 14-Aug-2012 - 07:59

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Patriotism is relevant and it'll be relevant always. Lets take a look into recent Mumbai protests. The people protesting against Assam violence turned violent and started rioting. They burnt police and media vehicles, pelted stones, molested cops and destroyed Amar Jyoti Memorial. The memorial was built for martyrs of 1857 revolt, the first war of independence.

This is just one of the incidents of recent times. Such incidents keep happening throughout the country. These incidents clearly show that we are more loyal towards our religion, community, region, race than our Nation. 65 years after independence, we have lost all the connection with our motherland. If a person is more loyal to his religion or community, he/she would never even think of nation's development. For such people self-interest comes above national interest. Then how will the nation move ahead? 

The answer is through patriotism. Patriotism is the feeling of devotion to one's country. It helps in removing the petty differences of religion, region, caste, etc. Patriotism unites us all in a single bond. This is the bond that is required for holistic development of the country. Because we have so many differences amongst ourselves, patriotism has become more relevant to us. Its interesting however, that Indians are third in the world on patriotism index! But still, i believe that an average Indian doesn't really work for nation building. So, its only through patriotism that we can dream of creating the ideal nation that Gandhiji and Bhagat Singh dream of.