Patriotism vs. Hyper-Nationalism: A Rationalist Perspective

Why does it matter to separate love for one’s country from blind worship of it? Around the world, societies confuse patriotism with hyper-nationalism—and the cost of that confusion is always freedom, diversity, and truth. From India to America, from Germany to Japan, history shows us that healthy pride strengthens nations while toxic nationalism corrodes them.

What is Patriotism?

Patriotism is constructive love. It is the pride you feel for your country’s culture, achievements, and values—without turning a blind eye to its flaws. True patriots demand accountability because they want their nation to be better.

• Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Swaraj (self-rule) wasn’t just about independence from Britain; it was about reforming caste, untouchability, and inequality.
• Jawaharlal Nehru’s phrase “unity in diversity” celebrated India’s pluralism, making space for many languages, faiths, and traditions.
• Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States demanded racial justice not as rebellion, but as a call to live up to the Constitution’s promise of equality.

Patriotism is inclusive. It unites rather than divides. It says: “I love my country, so I will tell it the truth.”

What is Hyper-Nationalism?

Hyper-nationalism is obsession disguised as love. It insists that one culture, one religion, or one leader defines the nation—and anyone outside that mold is suspect. Dissent is branded as betrayal.

• In India today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah represent a far-right leadership style that uses hyper-nationalist tactics: dissent is branded “anti-national,” critics are silenced through intimidation or legal harassment, and loyalty is equated with obedience to party ideology.
• The government’s strategy has been to weaponize religion and symbols—cow protection laws, temple politics, slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai”—reducing patriotism to ritual performance while ignoring deeper civic duties like justice, equality, and secularism.
• Donald Trump’s “America First” slogan blurred into hyper-nationalism. Immigrants were demonized, minorities were targeted, and loyalty to the flag was conflated with loyalty to him.
• Nazi Germany embodied the most catastrophic form of hyper-nationalism: a racialized, mythic vision of the nation that demanded total obedience, destroyed democracy, and led to genocide.

The Indian Case: How the System Aligns

India under Modi and Shah demonstrates how hyper-nationalism is not just rhetoric—it is backed by state power and institutional alignment. The machinery of democracy is being used to undermine democratic principles.

1. Silencing Dissent

Journalists, activists, and opposition leaders face constant harassment. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched over 3,000 investigations between 2014–2023, with a majority targeting opposition figures. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in 2024 under money-laundering charges, while Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament in 2023 over a defamation case. Meanwhile, BJP leaders facing serious allegations often escape scrutiny. This selective use of agencies turns law enforcement into a political weapon.

2. Rewriting History

In 2023, the NCERT textbooks were revised to remove references to the Mughal Empire, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and parts of Gandhi’s assassination linked to Hindu nationalist groups. This is a classic hyper-nationalist tactic: reshape collective memory to serve ideology.

3. Capturing the Media

Large sections of Indian television news function as propaganda tools. Prime-time debates obsess over religious polarization and “anti-national” threats instead of unemployment (which touched 7.6% in 2024), inflation, or farmer distress. Independent outlets such as NDTV were acquired by Adani Group—closely tied to Modi—while journalists critical of the government, like Siddique Kappan and Rana Ayyub, faced arrests, raids, or travel bans.

4. Targeting Minorities

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 explicitly linked citizenship to religion—excluding Muslims. Nationwide protests erupted in 2019–20, but were met with police brutality, mass detentions, and internet shutdowns. Mob lynchings in the name of cow protection (over 50 deaths since 2015) further demonstrate how minorities are cast as “outsiders.” This is hyper-nationalism in action: treating citizens as enemies.

5. Cult of Personality

Patriotism is about the nation; hyper-nationalism is about the leader. Modi’s image—projected as a “strong man,” a “global statesman,” and a “Hindu Hriday Samrat” (emperor of Hindu hearts)—dominates posters, rallies, and even school curricula. Amit Shah, as strategist, ensures party machinery and state institutions enforce this narrative. Criticizing Modi often results in online abuse campaigns orchestrated by IT cells, turning dissent into treason.

6. Legal and Electoral Engineering

The Electoral Bonds Scheme (2018–2024), later struck down by the Supreme Court, funneled over 90% of anonymous corporate donations to the BJP. At the same time, laws like the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) are applied broadly against activists, students, and journalists. Cases like Stan Swamy (an 84-year-old priest who died in custody in 2021) reveal how dissent is criminalized, while those aligned with ruling ideology enjoy impunity.

Global Lessons

History makes the contrast painfully clear:

• Germany today is patriotic in its honesty—acknowledging Nazi crimes while building pride in democracy, culture, and social welfare.
• Japan rebuilt after WWII by channeling patriotism into technology and peace, while rejecting the militarist hyper-nationalism that once justified conquest.
• The United States shows the clash daily: one America celebrates diversity as patriotism, another shouts slogans at rallies while silencing critics as “un-American.”
• India under Modi and Shah demonstrates how far-right leaders exploit national symbols and religious identity to consolidate power, while branding opponents as traitors. This is not love of country—it is devotion to power dressed up as nationalism.

Patriotism Builds, Hyper-Nationalism Destroys

• Patriotism builds bridges across communities.
• Hyper-nationalism builds walls and demands enemies.
• Patriotism fuels reform, democracy, and resilience.
• Hyper-nationalism fuels authoritarianism, division, and violence.

From Gandhi’s khadi wheel to Trump’s red MAGA hat, symbols tell stories. The wheel spun for inclusion and reform; the hat often shouted exclusion and suspicion. In India today, even the tricolor flag is sometimes hijacked as a partisan weapon, rather than a unifying symbol. Which story a nation chooses defines its future.

A Rationalist Standpoint

For secular humanists, atheists, and rationalists, the lesson is simple: blind worship—of gods, leaders, or nations—is always dangerous. Reason, accountability, and compassion must guide our civic life. A healthy society doesn’t silence dissent; it values it as an act of patriotism.

Patriotism is love with honesty. Hyper-nationalism is obsession with fear. One strengthens democracy. The other strangles it.

Stand with reason, not blind loyalty. Stand with truth, not propaganda. Only then can patriotism remain a force for freedom, not a weapon for authoritarianism.