BHARAT MATA KI JAI – A COMPULSION?

The current situation of India makes me feel that, I am living in a country colonized by our very own Indians. How did India get Independence? When WE united together to fight against the aliens, when we saw ourselves as Indians and not as a follower of XYZ religion!

Then what is wrong with us now? Why all of a sudden our news channel and newspapers are flooded with debates over a slogan which was coined by our freedom fighters to join people to the motherland and to stimulate their feelings and torment against the imperialism.

Let me break down this slogan into words and then analyze it.

Bharat=India
Mata= Mother
Jai= Victory

I fail to understand, where is any religion involved in these 3 words? The meaning which I can comprehend from this slogan is- “Mother India’s victory”. In Hindi we say- Matra Bhoomi & in Urdu we say Madre E Vatan. Now these terms used in different languages having similar meaning. Is this demeaning any religion?

Here with the slogan, India is referred to as a mother (mother is given utmost respect) whose victory is being vocalized. Do we ever think twice before adoring our mother and wishing the best for her? We are never tired of praising her even if she scolds us. If my Muslim friend is having problem in using the word Mata since it’s a Hindi word, then use “Ammi”. Use whatever language you want to use, but be grateful to our country.

Bharat Mata Ki Jai is an abstract concept- a symbol of Nationalism. Reciting this slogan is expressing one’s reverence to motherland and not equating India to any God. Anybody’s love of a nation should neither pivot on an utterance, nor should it be assessed by it.

A plain slogan cannot be a yardstick of nationalism though. Is my patriotism so feeble that it needs to hear such slogans? If you are forcing someone to say it, then how is it making you happy? If someone does refuse to say it, why are you getting offended? Maybe, that someone believes in the saying- “Action speaks louder than words.” Like, you are not legally compelled to say “Thank You” after getting a favor, but you do it. Why? I leave it to you to ponder upon.

Well, I believe that, this “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” thing can be simply put as “too much Ado about nothing”. Feverish buffs and jingoists only have this kind of attitude of evaluating nationalism by uttering slogans.

If you care so much about our country; then help poor, obey traffic rules, keep your city clean, and don’t let corruption grow.

Come together to make our country a better place to live. In my opinion, this will be the true nationalism.

We are living in a land of all religions and our ability of carrying forward this diversity has always made India stand out in the crowd. Such pity issues are many times raised to grab everyone’s eyeballs, and the worst part, people like us also get influenced.

Think rationally and don’t get deviated in this political game of religions. When, you will stop getting influenced by these political stunts, maybe then our politicians can realize that they can no more attract us in the name of religion.

Bharat Mata Ki Jai