The Bollywoodisation of nationalism helps nobody, especially not Indians

Dial down the emotional rhetoric, dial up the law and order.

Language matters; it shapes thought. 

In 2014, the BJP-RSS combine’s political language focussed on allaying fears that it would be antagonistic towards minorities. Despite its unshakeable commitment to creating a supremacist Hindu Rashtra, millions of Indians chose to believe the government when it said that it was all about ‘Sabka sath, sabka vikas’ and ‘achhe din’. Perhaps they desperately wanted it to be true.

However the Modi sarkar swiftly reverted to type, wrapping bigotry and chauvinism in hyper-nationalism. When JNU students were branded ‘anti-nationals’, the whole country was suddenly using the term as if it is perfectly normal to accuse