I used to work in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Everyone had to carry an Identity Card in the Kingdom and was subject to inspections.

The actual process of the ID or the carrying of it was not so onerous. What was irritating to many of us Indians was the description of the status of the card owner. All Bhutanese were classified as ‘Nationals’ and all the rest were ‘Non-nationals’. This irked many of us no end, I can tell you.

We used to mumble and protest and say that we did have a Nation – we should be classed as ‘Non-Bhutanese’.

I have been back in India for the last three years and I am constrained to say, perhaps the Bhutanese had a point. Even when we were there, I used to see ‘caucuses’ of South Indians and North Indians, of East Indians and West Indians (sic). We even subdivided into Tamils, Mallus, Bengalis, Biharis, and on and on…

Now I see that same trend of groupings taking on an altogether frightening face. We have Tamils against Kannadigas, Assamese versus Biharis, Maharashtrians against just about anybody … Not to mention Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and the various permutations and combinations of each of these… Bigotry and chauvinism, regionalism and factionalism – Indians have lost their nationality.

And I fear – I fear that we are falling into a morass of self-hate. Self-hate, because we hate ourselves in our guise of Indians.

I suppose in these modern times, another homily on Nationalism will not be welcome.

Identities have been fractured in the 60 years of independence we have suffered, after the acrimonious, bloody and painful break-up of what had once amalgamated into one country.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel set out to meld 150-odd kingdoms into an idea called India. Perhaps he made a false choice of realigning this culture on linguistic lines? I do not know – only history can judge.

In these realignments, our country lost the single purpose it had had before 1947. It had already been sorely hurt in the Partition – but now, a more insidious feeling of groupism formed, and has grown.

In our hopes to catch up with the rest of the world and to improve our individual lots, we ignored the democratic values that were supposed to have been inculcated in our minds. We forgot to vote – if we voted, we forgot to choose. Those who came into or retained power by our omissions are now in power.

It is us, who should have been vigilant enough to keep these megalomaniacs from corrupting us further, who are to blame for losing our Nationality.

We are no longer Indians – we have degenerated into factions based on regional loyalties and religious dogma. Where there should have been tolerance, which has always been the hallmark of this great land, we have become pawns in the hands of a small number of politicians.

I will not point fingers at individuals – but I will quote the title of Alan Paton’s famous masterpiece: “Cry, the Beloved Country”