Are patriotism and strong nationalism the two sides of the same coin? Some would say yes. But I would say no. Love for one's nation gives rise to Patriotism and obsession, on the other hand, gives rise to strong nationalism. In this world of globalization, where technology has made the world "flat", this distinction must be well understood. So we may get a person who is staying outside his/her motherland but still loves his/her nation and hence can be called patriotic. On the other hand we may get someone who is staying in his/her own country but still has a strong national feeling and sometimes may be xenophobic.
The reason why I am writing this blog is my concern about some of our fellow countrymen, who are so obsessed about their culture and roots. With a bare minimal provocation, they think their cultural history is at threat. Hence all these vandalisms in the name of cultural distortion. Very recently we have found such incidents in India which happened because these bigot people thought that a film can distort their history. Whose history is this anyway?
In this regards I would like to quote from a famous poem which I had read in my childhood. It goes like this-
"
Dwar bondho kori diya bhromotare rukhi..
Satya bole ami tobe kotha diye dhuki...
"
What it essentially means that if we close our hearts for bad things, then even good things cannot enter.
We must open our hearts to accept new things - be it good, be it bad. Our sanity should be strong enough to differentiate between these two. There is no wrong in becoming a global citizen as long as you love your country. However, its not acceptable to be obsessed about one's own country and culture.
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