All of a sudden everyone is anti-national

I have not seen so many anti-nationals in my lifetime.  It’s like raining traitors this season in India.  All of a sudden, there are traitors and anti-nationals everywhere in this country.  Like how the enemies of the State suddenly came onto the scene from within in various countries of Europe in early 1900s, like in Germany, and in Italy, there are enemies of India everywhere from within India.  These enemies of India come in the form and shape of protesting Dalit students in university campus, they come in the form of ordinary farm worker who ate beef, and they come in the form of journalists and editors. 

Sedition cases, those used by the British Empire to incarcerate the freedom fighters of India, are springing up everywhere like it’s the Spring Revolution of Tunisia.  This country is geared for witch-hunting.  All of a sudden each of us is asked to prove our patriotism.  To do that, we have to chant a devout slogan for a Goddess.  Otherwise we are traitors who will sent to Pakistan. 

And how do these traitors look? They look just like you, the ordinary people, they are your nice neighbors.  Oh! Don’t be fooled! They are all traitors, they are all anti-nationals, as the Hindutva leaders tell you.  They come in the form of liberals, the seculars, the communists, the socialists, the SCs, the STs, the OBCs, the Muslims, and the Christians. They come in the form of students, the teachers, the professors, the journalists, the editors, the book writers, and the movie makers.   They are everywhere.  They are the enemies within.  And amidst all these anti-nationals, there is only one patriot.  He wears a Khakhi uniform or wears a tilak. And he owes his allegiance to Hindutva ideology.

And there is only one prescribed and sanctioned expression of love for your country.  You have to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.  Anything less, you are traitor.  ‘Jai Hind’ won’t do.  ‘Hindustan Zindabad’ won’t do.

And there is only form of patriotism.  The Hindutva form of patriotism.  Every other form of patriotism is nothing but sedition.   The Brown Shirts did it in Germany, the Blackshirts did it in Italy, and the Bolsheviks did it in Russia.  Now it is the turn of Khakhi Shorts in India.

After World War I, the defeated nation of Germany started to find enemies within the country.  Once the bereaving nationalists, feeding on a desperate need to claim superiority of their race and nation, started looking, they started to find enemies everywhere.  The Jews, the Communists, the Gypsies, the intellectuals, and the liberals.   The innocuous neighbors suddenly became enemies of the State. 

Today, in India, we see the same frenzy.  The great nation, the super power, all of a sudden has become weak.  Because it has enemies within.  The nationalists want everyone to prove their patriotism.  Chanting a certain slogan, eating certain food, wearing certain clothes, have now become a test of patriotism.  The witch hunt is on.  It has started with hunting down the students and the universities.  Next, it is your turn and mine.