The honourable Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered all cinema halls in India to play the national anthem before the start of the feature film. As per the order, everyone from the audience is obliged to stand up and show respect to the national anthem. Also, the theatres are expected to have the image of the national flag when the anthem is being played and all doors are to be closed to prevent any disturbance while playing the national anthem. A period of ten days has been given by the Supreme Court for compliance of this order. This move has been taken by the Supreme Court to instil committed patriotism and nationalism among the citizens.
The intentions of the Supreme Court are no doubt in the right direction. In my opinion, being truly patriotic to the motherland and having unconditional love and respect for the motherland is the best virtue that one can possibly have. However, would one become patriotic by just standing up for the national anthem (rather being forced to stand up for the national anthem)? Isn’t there more to patriotism than this gesture?
Let us closely analyse events when people in our country actually feel patriotic. For a lot of people, the feeling of patriotism comes only during an India vs. Pakistan cricket match. There are people who get this feeling during Independence Day and Republic Day when the tricolour is hoisted in different parts of the country. Whenever there are any terror attacks or ceasefire violations in the border, the hate for Pakistan manifests in a feeling of patriotism. Of late, we witnessed patriotism when some of our Bollywood stars made unwarranted comments and their movies were boycotted. For some, boycotting foreign brands and using Indian brands is a way to show patriotism.
Let us now look at some of the more serious issues where the common man in India actually needs to show patriotism, but selfish motives bypass patriotism. When buying or selling property, the common man more often than not indulges in undervaluation to reduce the tax component, which is one of biggest causes of the parallel economy. This evil practice has become almost a norm and the common man does not even feel guilty after indulging in this act. Where is patriotism when the common man receives a part of his house rent in cash, thereby contributing to unaccounted wealth in the nation? Where is patriotism when the common man pays a bribe to the traffic cop to avoid paying a larger sum to the government or when he pays a bribe at the RTO office to avoid hassles in obtaining a driving license? Where is patriotism when the common man litters the streets and then blames the government for not doing enough to maintain cleanliness? During Elections, there are a lot of places in India where the voting percentage is less than 50%. Voting is our right and our duty. When we have a negligent attitude towards this basic duty, what patriotism are we talking about?
These are just a few instances when the average common man in India allows greed to overtake national interests. The harsh truth is that we, the ordinary citizens of our country are as responsible for India still being a developing nation as our netas and bureaucrats. The oft heard argument to defend such actions is that the government officials would anyway misuse the tax money and hence there is no need to be completely honest. The other argument that one hears is that everyone does it, why should I not do it? These are just excuses given by the common man and none of it would justify not performing basic duties towards the nation and society.
This move by the Supreme Court would not achieve the desired result of instilling patriotism, but there is definitely scope for trouble and unwanted violence. People who have some amount of love and respect for the country would stand up for the national anthem without raising any hue and cry. But there are people, especially the ones belonging to the extreme left of the political spectrum, who find it rather fashionable to disrespect the national flag and anthem. At the same time, there may be people who would not be able to stand up due to health reasons. There are high chances that unruly elements and self-styled patriots would resort to violence against the ones not standing up for the national anthem and this could result in another intolerance debate.
Merely playing the national anthem and asking people to stand up would do very little to instil a sense of patriotism and nationalism. The honourable Supreme Court must look at methods to inculcate the sense of patriotism when it comes to some of the larger issues mentioned above.
Children and youth must be taught that bribery and contribution to the parallel economy are sins and anti-national deeds. Patriotism is a virtue that cannot be forced and it must come from within. One must stand up for the national anthem because of genuine love and respect for the country and not out of force.