Symbolism and National Culture

On the 26th of every year, the Raj Path in Delhi comes ablaze with the crunch of military boots and the clank of armoured vehicles. Columns after columns of soldiers in their finest dress uniforms march past the President of India who solemnly returns their salutes. Braving the biting cold and early morning fog, thousands of people from Delhi and all over the country line up the Raj Path and the road leading to Red Fort, waving flags and chanting 'Bharat Maata ki Jai'. 

As has been the tradition from 1950, the Prime Minister of India pays solemn homage to the martyrs of the Armed forces, symbolically to the entire serving personnel in uniform, at the India Gate memorial. Then the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, the President of India, takes the salute of the serving, retired veterans from all shades of uniform as they march past the saluting dais. What follows are contingents of cultural troupes and tableau that represent the unity of diverse Indian culture. As I watch the panorama unfold every year, a question comes to the mind – why is that the prime Minister pays homage at India Gate, whereas the President takes the salute? And, some simple answers strike the mind.

The Prime Minister, as the executive head of government is the one who will commit the Armed forces into action in war, for war is a political decision. Those millions of men will fix bayonet and pounce on the enemy, defending the territorial integrity and sovereign principles of this country at his command. The sacrifices that they make are the price that he will pay to safeguard the political unity of India as a country. Hence, it is only proper that he recognizes their sacrifice as vital to the safeguarding of the edifice that is India by paying homage at India Gate.

The President, even though designated as the Supreme Commander, is the sovereign head of state. Like the monarchs of yore, he presides over all institutions of statehood – the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. It is in his name that acts are passed; executive decisions are conveyed and judicial pronouncements are upheld. The Armed Forces represent the power of the sovereignty of which the President is the face. That is why he presides over the parade as well as the cultural representation of the country.

The RD parade is not just a parade that displays India’s military might. It is not an occasion that merely represents India rises in the world as a sovereign democratic republic. It is a showcase of the fundamental principle that the founding fathers of this nation held as most dear to them – unity in diversity. A nation of thirty three million gods including the gods that humanity ever invented elsewhere; a nation that speaks 22 languages and over 1600 dialects; and a nation that celebrates the unity of its spirit in its abundant diversity. India - the enigma, the puzzle, the beauty, the indescribable.

The great saint of our times, whose 150^th centenary that we observed last year, Swami Vivekanada, said that it is in its indomitable faith of the spirit that India is actually one. The gods are merely representational. John McLeod, in his Beginning: Postcolonialism, says “Nations are not like trees and plants: they are not a naturally occurring phenomenon”. And, Eric Hobsbawm argued that, ‘the nation depends upon the invention of national traditions which are made manifest through the repetition of specific symbols or icons. The performance of national traditions keeps in place an important sense of continuity between the nations present and past, and helps concoct the unique sense of the shared history and common origins of its people. Nations often traffic in highly revered symbols that help forge a sense of its particular, idiosyncratic identity in which the nation’s people emotionally invest”.

It is important that, unlike the Delhi CM Arvind Kejiriwal who called it as a showcase of VIP culture, we understand that the RD Parade is an occasion when the cultural unity of India is strengthened. Such displays help the people of India bond with the idea of the nation that we are and reinforce the idea of an India that is strong and rising. In fact, aside Delhi, Tamil Nadu is one state that observes the day in the true spirit of the Republic representing the best that is in the traditions of Tamils as well as the country. We must continue to have these symbolism, while parallelly building through education and practice, strong character and respect for multicultural representation in our public and private life, if we are to make India the super power that we all dream of.

Silk Road Reaches Europe

Pliny is said to have lamented two thousand years ago that Roman woman wear their Chinese silks in such a way that there is nothing left for imagination! More so was the colossal amount of silver and gold that poured out of Rome and Athens into China for the goods that the population in Southern Europe adoringly imported from there. Of course, with the conquest of West Asia by the Mongols, the direction of flow of the bullion and silver changed a little initially but reverted back to heartland China when Kublai Khan established a kingdom that we know as China today.

History has a penchant for repeating itself. In so doing it appears to offer the peoples affected by it opportunities to draw lessons from its earlier cycles and correct their courses. Those nations that do manage to learn their lessons will go on to become empires. Those who don't are, of course, condemned to repeat their past.

And no one seems to have studied the lessons of their history better than China. On 23rd March 2019, China signed an MoU (however non-binding it was made to sound) with Italy by which Italy has agreed to join the Belt Road Initiative (BRI). The new Silk Road that China has been meticulously canvassing for in the past six years, gathering about 70 nations across Central & South Asia and Africa in its fold, has now formally reached Rome, once again after a thousand years.

Nations across the spectrum have been making noises about the debt-diplomacy that China has used to extend the reach of its BRI. With over 13 Trillion USD in its kitty, its pocket is indeed deep and it is but evident that the terms of offer of financial assistance are anything but tempting to cash-starved nations. Added to the lure of attractive development assistance, it is the anticipated development itself that serves as the major attraction.

It is easier to fall prey to the temptation of China baiting on its debt-diplomacy. Instead, we must admit a simple fact that nations will have to act in their best national interest and no country that is in the 'ivy league' of nations can be said to be acting otherwise, purely in international community interest. Therefore, it is perhaps time for international lending agencies to take a call on their lending terms and see whether the 'ailing' and needing nations could be extended assistance under more affordable terms to help realize their developmental goals. While doing so, it is also necessary to avoid playing into the hands of geopolitical compulsions that may again push nations to seek assistance from other softer privy purses. The agenda is not to counter China. It is to balance an approach that will help nations to work together to achieve goals that create economic opportunities and prosperity in their own lands.

China may go ahead and realize its BRI objectives with or without interference from other big players in the arena. That China does so is not necessarily a cause for concern if the community of nations along its way take their calls for cooperation on BRI after due consideration of their longtime national interests. The political leaders in those countries should avoid joining the bandwagon for immediate political or even personal gains.