The cultural nationalism has been a central theme in Indian social and political discourse since late 19th century. A galaxy of thinkers, spiritual personalities and philosophers, which included people like Rajaram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Maharshi Aurovindo, B. C. Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, B. G. Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Bankim Chnadra Chatterjee, Ravindra Nath Tagore, Dr K. B. Hedgewar, V. D. Savarkar, Swami Dayananda, M. S. Golwalkar (Guruji), K. M. Munshi , Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, made enormous contributions to the evolution of idea and debate on it in the modern historiography. They differed with each other on many accounts and on their approaches to outline and define the contours of Indian nationalism but all of them largely concur that the cultural foundation gives shape to Indian nationalism.
All of them perceived patriotism as a spiritual and cultural rather than a material concept. It is obvious from elevation of the country as ‘Mother’ and ‘Goddess’ by them. Moreover, the acceptance of Bankim’s Vande Mataram as a patriotic and inspiring song in the collective conscience of the people itself tells that nation has been given higher status than religions and community’s identity. Mother India becomes the most inspiring and living deity irrespective of sects, philosophies, religions and regions.
However, there has been a notable absence of Muslims from such debate. Their hostility to this concept is very remarkable in the trajectory of Indian nationalism. Yet it is also not untrue that there are scattered instances of Muslim thinkers and literary figures who reinforced the idea of cultural nationalism. However, the Islamic religious discourses precluded such thinkers to sustain their ideology or lead to synthesis between indigenous ancestral culture and Islamic faith. Consequently, this could not turn it into an ideology of Muslim masses and remained confined to their personal conviction. The Muslim discourse has not only been predominantly based on pan Islam but also on the hostility to indigenous culture as a rival ideology and tradition.
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