Ashish Batler

Before we begin, I would like to clarify that the following content is my personal opinion and readers have every right to differ from it. Background There is a new trend in social media these days. People often sit in cosy rooms with the facebook app on their smartphone and display their sense of nationalism and patriotism. Some argue with people from across the border (Pakistan), some argue with their own country citizens. Some link religions with nationalism and patriotism. Many even get abused/harassed in the process. I would like to quote Mr. Sydney J. Harris,  "The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility,but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war" There is another good quote, "Nationalism teaches you to take pride in things you haven't done and hat...

Before we begin, I would like to clarify that the following content is my personal opinion and readers have every right to differ from it. Background Some people blame Nehru for partition, some blame Gandhi for partition, some blame Sawarkar for partition, some blame Jinaah, while some blame Hindu Mahasabha and so on, the list is endless. Its easy to sit in a room with a coffee mug in hand to judge people from the past and compare them with one another. So we need to understand that there are a lot of factors which contributed to the partition of India into India and Pakistan (including East Pakistan). So let us first look into the backdrop to understand it. The beginning India in 18th century was politically disintegrating after the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Powerful states like Bengal, Marathas, Awadh, Hyderabad, Mysore, Punjab were emerging on the scene as independent/autonomous centers. Mughals were getting weak. East India Company (EIC) were expanding its control. ...