“ We’re talking about third-and fourth-generation (immigrants); these youngsters are born in Belgium, even their fathers and mothers are born in Belgium, and still they are open for these kinds of messages. This is not normal.” — Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon after the Brussels attack
Another attack! By a jihadi terrorist on the British soil, at a concert of the US pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester. Many political statements would be released and counter-measures would be discussed and still from Charlie Hebdo, to London, to Brussels, to Manchester and even to Bharat, we will continue to face the same menace. There can be many conclusions, even justifications coming from the experts, which will reiterate only one fact that ‘European Liberalism’ is facing a roadblock. In fact heading nowhere. This is the reason that in their reactions none has categorically targetted the culprits even after the IS owning up responsibility for the massacre.
Certainly, European Liberalism has a great contribution to the world through ideas of European Renaissance. From individual rights to religious reformation, even Constitutionalism has been the legacy of Liberalism. Another important aspect of Liberalism was to respond to the changing needs, with a dynamic approach rather than that of a dogma. That precisely is the reason this ideology of ‘European Modernism’ could sustain the onslaughts of Communism and Capitalism. This evolution of Liberalism gave birth to the idea of ‘Positive Nationalism’, of which European thinkers were proud of.
The ‘European Liberal Values’ were transplanted all over the world through colonial powers and it was the first sign of ‘Liberalism’ being on, back foot, as the proponents fail to speak for the rights of colonised people.
The second reverse gear was the use of ultra-nationalism of Fascism-Nazism variety to counter Communism and finally ally with the Communist Russia to end the Fascists. And ‘Nationalism’ which was an outcome of Liberal thinking, suddenly became a dirty word in the age of political correctness. Liberals swiftly crept into the Communist idea of ‘nation’ and ‘nationalism’ with a defeatist approach. Since then, politically European Liberalism has been struggling to come out of inter-war period.
In the post World-War II, the only contribution Liberals could make was in the arena of building international institutions. That was also marred by the philosophy of market extremism. So politically it is spearheading the cause of ‘anti-nationalism’ and economically the institutions are busy promoting the market interests rather than the values of cultural and social rights of communities.
This dilemma of ‘European Liberals’ is not sufficient to address the causes of religion-based terror. In 2007 itself, a research report funded by the Danish Ministry of Justice, edited by Tomas Precht , titled ‘Home grown terrorism and Islamist radicalisation in Europe: From conversion to terrorism’ while suggesting the remedy for growing radicalism says, “Society should accommodate pragmatically different cultural needs but treating Muslims differently from everyone else risk to reinforce their feeling of being outsiders and not being part of society with shared values.”
Unfortunately, the misplaced concept of pluralism and mindless execution of refugee policies as a vanguard of Liberalism is on the contrary encouraging the separate
identity based on radical ideologies. The liberal intellectuals of Bharat who have been following their European masters since the time of British are caught in the same dichotomy. They glorify the anti-nationals and take pride in branding nationalists as conservatives. They forget the fact that Bharat has its own ethos of liberal values that is essentially Hindu.
The State has to be secular but ‘Rashtra’ is inherently rooted in the cultural ethos of equal respect and acceptance of all ways of worships. Any ideology or religion that says ‘Mine is the only way’ in not in tune with our national philosophy that believes in ‘All ways lead to the same truth’. Such monotheistic and semitic idea of religion cannot be allowed to be imposed in the name of tolerance against the tradition of acceptance. Unless the European Liberals and their followers in Bharat understand and respect the non-European roots of Liberalism, terror will keep striking us and we will keep responding with liberal sermons.
@PrafullaKetkar
