{"id":363,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=363"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:33","slug":"088-the-foundation-of-nationality-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/01-bande-mataram-volume-01\/088-the-foundation-of-nationality-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-088_The Foundation of Nationality.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\nThe Foundations of Nationality<\/b><\/font><\/P>
\n

 <\/P>
\n


\n
\n 
\n<\/font><\/B>                       
\n<\/SPAN><\/font>MR.<\/font><\/B> N. N. Ghose of the Indian Nation <\/I>has some name in this
\ncountry as an educated and even a learned man. He himself does not conceal his
\nopinion that he is almost if not quite the only well-educated man in India and
\nis perpetually asking the acknowledged exponents of public opinion on the
\nNationalist side what educational qualifications they possess which would
\njustify them in advising or instructing their  <\/SPAN>countrymen in politics. At one time it
\nis the conductors of Bande Mataram <\/I>who are put to the question; at
\nanother it is so able a political thinker and orator as Srijut Bepin Chandra Pal
\nwhose speeches and writings have extorted the reluctant admiration of our
\nbitterest opponents in England; at another it is the editor of Yugantar
\n<\/I>who is apostrophied as an ill-educated adolescent \u2014 a paper every single
\nissue of which evidences more knowledge, reading and power of thought and
\nexpression than the whole year’s output of the Indian Nation<\/I>. <\/I>In the
\nlatest issue of his weekly Mr. Ghose has penned an article on the prospects of
\nNationality in India \u2014 which he thinks to be very bad indeed \u2014 and in trying to
\nsupport his thesis by examples from history he has perpetrated such astonishing
\nblunders, of so gross and elementary a character, that one wonders what
\nill-educated adolescent usurped the editorial chair usually occupied by the
\nPrincipal of the Metropolitan College. We will give only a few samples of Mr.
\nGhose’s historical knowledge. The unification of the Italian republics into a
\nnation, he says, was not so much the effect as the cause of Italian
\nindependence. We leave for the moment the truth of the statement which is
\ncontrary to the facts of history; but we should like to know what on earth our
\nuniversal critic means by his Italian republics? There were republics in
\nmediaeval Italy, but we did not know that
\nNaples and
\nSicily were republics under King
\nBomba, or Rome under the Popes, or
\nTuscany under the Grand Duke, or
\nLombardy under the Austrians, or Sardinia<\/font><\/P>
\n


\n <\/P>
\n


\nPage-505<\/font><\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n


\nand
\nPiedmont under the descendants of Victor Amadeus. Then
\nagain Mr. Ghose has “observed” that the different States of Greece developed a
\nNational unity as soon as they had a common enemy in the Persian. Really? We had
\nalways thought that the one outstanding fact of Greek history was the utter
\ninability of these states to develop national unity at all, the sentiment of
\nPanhellenism never having a look-in against the separatist spirit of the
\ncity-states. And then he tells us that the provinces and states of ancient
\nItaly (whatever
\nthat may mean) also readily united into a great national state in the presence
\nof a foreign enemy. Yet those foolish historians tell us that
\nItaly was united
\nnot at all willingly by the Roman sword and the Carthaginian invasion simply
\ntested the solidity of the Roman structure; it certainly did not create it. But
\nit would be a wearisome task to hunt down all the errors with which the article
\nis packed. We think that after this Mr. N. N. Ghose had better stop questioning
\nother people about their qualifications for instructing the people and examine
\nhis own.<\/font><\/P>
\n

           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/SPAN>But in spite of his historical blunders he has succeeded in giving
\nexpression to a very common error which troubles many patriotic people and
\nunnerves their faith and weakens the quality of their patriotism. “Let it be
\ndistinctly remembered and never forgotten that the essential conditions of a
\nnationality are unity of language, unity of religion and life, unity of race.”
\nAnd because there is diversity of race, religion and language in
\nIndia he thinks
\nthat there is no possibility of creating a nationality in this country. This is
\na very common stumbling-block, but is there any reality in it? Rather we find
\nthat every nationality has been formed not because of, but in spite of,
\ndiversity of race or religion or language, and not unoften in spite of the
\nco-existence of all these diversities. The Indian Nation <\/I>has itself
\nadmitted that the English nation has been built out of various races, but he has
\nnot stated the full complexity of the British nation. He has not observed that
\nto this day the races which came later into the British nationality keep their
\ndistinct individuality even now and that one of them clings to its language
\ntenaciously. He has carefully omitted the striking example of
\nSwitzerland
\nwhere distinct racial strains speaking three different
\nlanguages and, later, pro-<\/font><\/P>
\n


\n <\/P>
\n


\nPage-506<\/font><\/P>
\n

<\/p>\n


\nfessing different religions, coalesced into and
\npersisted as one nation without sacrificing a single one of these diversities.
\nIn France three
\ndifferent languages are spoken; in
\nAmerica the
\ncandidates for White House address the nation in fourteen languages,
\nAustria is a
\ncongeries of races and languages, the divisions in
\nRussia are
\nhardly less acute. That unity in race, religion or language is essential to
\nnationality is an idea which will not bear examination. Such elements of unity
\nare very helpful to the growth of a nationality, but they are not essential and
\nwill not even of themselves assure its growth. The Roman
\nEmpire though it created a common language, a common religion and
\nlife, and did its best to crush out racial diversities under the heavy weight of
\nits uniform system failed to make one great nation.<\/font><\/P>
\n

           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/SPAN>If these are not essential elements of nationality, what, it may be
\nasked, are the essential elements? We answer that there are certain essential
\nconditions, geographical unity, a common past, a powerful common interest
\nimpelling towards unity and certain favourable political conditions which enable
\nthe impulse to realise itself in an organised government expressing the
\nnationality and perpetuating its single and united existence. This may be
\nprovided by a part of the nation, a race or community, uniting the others under
\nits leadership or domination, or by an united resistance to a common pressure
\nfrom outside or within. A common enthusiasm coalescing with a common interest is
\nthe most powerful fosterer of nationality. We believe that the necessary
\nelements are present in India, we believe that the time has come and that by a common
\nresistance to a common pressure in the shape of the boycott, inspired by a
\ncommon enthusiasm and ideal, that united nationality for which the whole history
\nof India has
\nbeen a preparation, will be speedily and mightily accomplished.<\/font><\/P>
\n


\nBande Mataram<\/I>,
\n<\/I>
\n<\/font>
\nAugust 17, 1907<\/font><\/P>
\n


\n <\/P>
\n


\nPage-507<\/font><\/P>\n\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Foundations of Nationality                             MR. N. N. Ghose of the Indian Nation has some name in this country as an educated and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","wpcat-8-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}