Nationalism has come to be associated with mob psychology and geographical barriers, and not freedom, historian K.N. Ganesh has said.
Inaugurating a seminar and an exhibition on the ‘different streams in the Indian freedom struggle’, here on Thursday, he said that the practice now was to link nationalism to religion and culture too. The event was organised by the Information and Public Relations Department in memory of E. Moidu Moulavi, freedom fighter and Congress leader.
Dr. Ganesh said that nationalism “is no longer a serious issue in our society”. During the days of the independence movement, nationalism meant fighting for the freedom of our country. The social situation in Malabar in 1900 was different. For a person like Moidu Moulavi, who was educated only in an Arabic college, it was difficult not to be part of the nationalist movement where people having different ideologies had joined hands. Even religious scholars joined the freedom struggle at that time, he said.
Dr. Ganesh said that it should be a subject of historical enquiry as to how people from different backgrounds came together to espouse a cause. The age-old method of confining it to a clash between liberals and extremists should be avoided. It should be studied how the people developed an anti-British attitude.
He said that the memory of people like Moulavi should be retained not through memorial stones, but through rigorous historical evaluations about the society, the freedom struggle and the social situation.
M.P. Mujeeb Rahman, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Calicut University, said that it was the nationalist movement which shaped a pluralistic society in Kerala.
