There is a difference between nationalism in the US and Europe on one hand, and India on the other, that we need to understand clearly.

I am going to be very politically incorrect but there are times you cannot speak the truth without stepping on sensitives toes.

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Multiculturalism was a last ditch, desperate, attempt to accommodate Islam in Europe as well the US; more so in EU after secularism was thought to be too restrictive.

Multiculturalism was a gross failure that only encouraged more fundamentalist Islamists to demand segregation.

No doubt politics in the ME was a complicating factor. But viewed purely from a local standpoint in the UK or France, Multiculturalism threatened democracy and the free way of life itself as Islamists demand their own legal codes.

At the risk of over simplification, nationalism in the Europe & US seeks to PRESERVE the idea of individual liberty & freedom & democracy from the onslaught of a collectivist ideology like Islamism where the individual has practically no free will leave alone freedom of choice.

So while taken on its own, nationalism to liberals sounds regressive and a surrender 2 a collective, the same thing when viewed in opposition to the choices under Islamism appear very different.

In isolation nationalism is regressive but as opposed to say Islamism it is liberal.

Now the fight between nationalism & liberalism in the EU and US is NOT between Islamists and Liberals. Rather it is an argument between nationalists who want a liberal state and liberals who think Islamism or collectivism should be accommodated in a liberal state.

Nationalists arguing for a liberal state say Islam is unwilling to compromise with democracy & the necessity of a medlar state where the individual has the great freedom. The liberals have no reply to this argument & fudging issues to lead tolerance, time, equality etc.

So the nationalist seeking to preserve their liberal state are not as wrong as liberals seeking to preserve a liberal state. And that is the ux. Both want a liberal state. The argument is about how 2 accommodate the “outsider.”

Conservatives/nationalists say the outsider should be treated as no different from any other citizen. While the liberals say give the outsider time to adjust.

So please get this straight. Both nationalists & liberals are fighting to preserve a liberal state & not dismantle it.

Now the situation is more complex in India. But here too the contestation is about how to accommodate Islam in a democracy. But the similarity with US and EU ends there.

Briefly, do Sanghis want a liberal state that maximises personal freedoms & believes in democracy?

OTOH are the Muslims asking for secular state or a multicultural state or their own set go laws?

Truth is Sanghis are not clear about whether they want a Hindu theocracy, or a liberal democracy or gawd knows what. But they trash everything liberal.

Muslims would be only too happy with a secular state that gives the religious freedom same as Hindus. The last thing they want is a Islamist theocracy.

So what is the argument in India?

The argument in India also is not between Muslims and Hindus but between two sets of Hindus concerning how to deal with Muslims.

The second argument is also between 2 groups go Hindus over a liberal democracy vs a Hindu theocracy.

If you were to draw a Ven diagram you would have 3 overlapping circles of Hindus.

1. Hindus who want a theocracy or Hindu Rashtra.

2. Hindus who want a liberal democracy and a secular state that guarantees freedom to all.

3. Hindus who want a Hindu Rashtra that somehow is also a liberal democracy.

The third group will eventually resolve into the first two.

The problem is largely with Sanghis. They need to sort out what they want.

They need to first sort out their Islamophobia. Second, they need to separate their contestation with Islam from that with other liberal Hindus.

Lastly, they need to decide if they actually want a democracy that is also plural.

Once the Sanghis are clear we can begin to sort out our problems.

RSS has been beating about the bush re what it wants because it hasn’t rally thought thru all these issues. It has been using islamophobia as a electoral device 2 win votes.

Time 4 Sanghis 2 clarify.