Understanding Nationalism

Pages : 24

The question of nation, nation building and nationalism are now being widely debated in our society. The demand for instilling “national pride” is also being voiced by a section of our people. In this booklet, we discuss how the concept of nationalism emerged in the realm of political thought with the development of capitalism and also became a part of political discourse in our freedom movement. This booklet argues that economic, political sovereignty, self-reliance and people’s well-being were the pillars on which the platform of Indian nationalism was built – our nationalism being anti- colonial, anti-imperialist and secular.