Nehru’s Idea of Bharat Mata and Nationalism
“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge… At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.”
The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was addressing a rally in a village in Punjab. The villagers, fully immersed in nationalism, were greeting Nehru with slogans such as “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Pandit Nehru ki Jai”, and “Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai”. After hearing their enthusiastic slogans, Mr. Nehru asked the audience, “Who is Bharat Mata?” Some of them said that Bharat Mata was the landmass of Hindustan, stretching from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari and represented in the form of a goddess mounted on a lion. Others responded to Nehru that Bharat Mata was the rivers, the Himalayas, trees, waterfalls, land, and people.
Unsatisfied with the responses, Nehru shed light on the understanding of Bharat Mata. He replied, “What you all are saying is true, but the real Bharat Mata, which we all believe in, is the people of this great nation and civilization, which has had a rich history since ancient times.” The people make the nation great, and if there were no human beings, who would protect and enrich the land of this nation and its glorious civilization? Nehru’s views on nationalism and his understanding of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” are closely interconnected. He always emphasized the development of the nation through the contribution of every single person living in this great nation, which was colonized by foreign rulers for centuries. He was convinced that we would be truly liberated when India was not run by a few people, but every citizen of this nation had a say in all matters of governance.
In Nehru’s view, the security, integrity, and greatness of our motherland, Bharat, would come from ensuring that the citizens of this country were literate, independent, well-fed, employed, and healthy. The strength of any country can be measured in terms of the people living in that country. Nehru’s nationalism is categorically different from the hooliganism of a few who worship Bharat Mata as a goddess riding on a lion and holding a flag, based on an exclusionary ideology in which other sections of society, such as Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Adivasis, women, and many other communities, do not find a dignified place. Nehru emphatically said that a single drop of tear from a person represents the tears of Bharat Mata, and we, as a nation, cannot simply afford this. Will you dare to see your Bharat Mata crying? A single person living in poverty, destitution, or disease would defeat the purpose of our hard-earned freedom and inclusive nationalism.
On 15th August 1962, from the iconic and historical monument of the Red Fort, he suggested that the people of the nation, with love and affection, tie a rakhi to Bharat Mata in their hearts. With this strong message, he wished to convey the meaning of Rakshabandhan in terms of loyalty, security, and a pledge to one another. We, the people of India, should be loyal and pledge our allegiance to serving India and its people. We shall protect our country and our people at any cost, together. Nehru placed the responsibility for India’s future on the coming generations. He passionately reminded each of us that we had fought for the independence of this country until our last drop of blood. Many great souls lived on the land of Bharat and spilled their blood for its independence, but the time had come to pass the baton to the next generation to take the nation to greater heights and utilize its full potential. However, he left a cordial message for the citizens of India to remain united, work hand in hand, and live with brotherhood and peace. He strictly warned that if we divided ourselves, we would divide the essence of Indianness and the freedom we had won from the clutches of imperialism.
In his view, nationalism is not the prerogative of a few people in power, but the togetherness of millions of people who are the children of Bharat Mata. It is the shared responsibility of everyone to stand by one another at every moment of life. Nationalism teaches the moral responsibility of citizenship, and it does not allow anyone to harm, kill, loot, or threaten our fellow brothers and sisters in the name of false nationalism. He conveyed this message very firmly. He also hoped that the coming generations would heed his thoughts and ideology and withstand the testing times brought about by any calamity that might come their way. He said that Bharat is a living entity that has flowed like water since ancient times, irrigating the civilization on this auspicious land of Bharat. Those who came to Bharat assimilated into and became part of this great civilization. Despite being full of diversity in terms of languages, cultures, rituals, and religions, we are one and shall remain united. We shall empower ourselves with scientific temper, debate and discussion, and the exchange of values. Nehru emphasized that millions of minds need not think alike or become uniform, and that is not the nature of human beings either. But when circumstances demand it, we must work together in unison to protect our country, our Bharat Mata, and our people from enemies who intend to destroy us. It is the prime duty of everyone to set aside our differences, live together peacefully, and work for a great Bharat. That shall be true nationalism. Nationalism does not allow us to fight with our fellow brethren.
The time has come to demonstrate our true nationalism and unite to fight the divisive forces that believe India is the Sangh Parivar, not the Bharat Parivar. RSS nationalism is derived from a religious ideology that imposes its form of nationalism on others. RSS nationalism is static in nature, ingrained with hatred, violence, and divisiveness. It demands loyalty to Hindutva, an ideology that serves neither the interests of Hindus nor those of the country. The time has come to follow Nehru’s advice and unite to protect the security, essence, and spirit of India against its enemies, both internal and external. It is time to take a pledge to protect our Bharat Mata and uphold the aims and hopes of our freedom fighters.
Robert Yadav, Sunil Kumar, Ganpat Ram