The democracy in US is of Unitary form, with the President of the country directly elected. But in India, we have a democracy which is Federal in nature though Unitary in character. Flags and songs are symbols of sovereignty and sentiment. What is good for America may be bad for India. I am reminded of Yeat’s famous poem The Second Coming wherein he says: “Things fall apart; the Centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon world”. Here, we may as well replace the word world with India. Political party flags are okay but certainly not State flags. It will not augur well for the Centre and for the integrity of our country. Anyway, it is significant to note that Ramachandra Guha was speaking at a kind of function which has become fashionable and a farce, called Bangalore Literature Festival. Were there literary persons? It was more of an anti-Modi crowd. The subject: “Jingoism Vs Patriotism”. Jingoism means extreme or aggressive form of patriotism. He said “Catalans have declared independence since Spain did not let them speak their language among many other concerns.” But who is going to remind the good old saying that “where wealth accumulates men decay”. Catalans demand independence because they are economically independent and prosperous. Like our Punjab once. Catalan is rich, most of the major industries are located there and also major contributor to Spain’s agricultural produce. So the pride. So the demand for independence.
