Patriotism is

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Patriotism is a noble sentiment. It is love for the motherland. It is said that one who loves not his country, can love nothing. Sir Walter Scott rightly observed “Breathes there the man with soul so dead who never to himself has said, this is my own, my native land”. It is a sentiment observed all over the world by developed as well as well as developing countries. East or west, home is the best, goes the saying. Its force is unquestionable. Even animals move out in their own areas and do not allow others to intrude.

History gives the names of many heroes, who, in the name of patriotism, laid down their lives for the cause of their motherland. In our own country, Rana Pratap, Tipu Sultan, Bhagat Singh, and Alluri Seetharama Raju are a few of the many patriots worth remembering.

Dying for the cause of one’s motherland is a great honour. It is this conviction that helps our soldiers to fight wars. Many a poet has sung “There is no land like England, There is no man like an Englishman”. Such was his love for England. In our own land, Bankinchandra’s ‘Vandemataram’. Tagore’s ‘Janagana man’ and Iqbal’s ‘Sare Jahan se Achha’ are inspiring patriotic songs. In the south, Subramanya Bharati wrote many patriotic songs in Tamil. Rayaprolu Subba Rao sang ‘Whichever country you go to wherever you lay your steps down, sing the glory of your motherland, Bharat, and protect her honour’.

Patriotism to politics is what faith is to religion. Religion and language are said to be unifying forces in a State. Today one can see in the world a number of nations speaking the same language and following the same religion. It is said that patriotism is itself a religion and that it is an egg from which many wars are hatched. This is true. The Hundred Years War, the First and the Second World Wars and the recent Indo-China and Indo-Pakistan wars were all fought for the cause of motherlands in the name of patriotism.

Paztriotism has no place for those with empty stomachs. The country should also be lovable to be loved. Only united effort of a patriotic spirit can meet these challenges. Science and technology have made travel and communication so easy that the world had become a global village. Race, colour, language and sex are losing importance and the concept of one world is developing. In the light of these developments nationalism and patriotism are losing their importance and internationalism is taking roots.

Man wants to live in peace wherever he is. Ma country, right or wrong, is no longer a correct view. As G.B. Shaw says you will never have a peaceful world unless you kick out patriotism from the human race. Till then let us follow the principle “love not only what is your, but love all that belongs to the human race’.


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