Skip to main content

Flag-waving nationalism, false patriotism result of 'different types of orthodoxies'

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

Orthodoxies are ideas, beliefs, traditions, knowledge, institutions, policies, processes and practices that domesticate people and the planet. The cultural, religious, political and ideological orthodoxies are driving the world towards a dangerous situation, where reactionary forces dominate politics, society and economy. 
They also create and facilitate oligarchical monopolistic environment. The oligarchical political and economic systems destroy democratic and secular values to realise individual liberty. The resurgence of flag-waving bourgeoisies’ nationalisms and false patriotisms are inadvertent but natural outcomes of dominance of different varieties of orthodoxies. 
The immersive culture of orthodoxies and its knowledge traditions domesticates individuals, communities and environment to normalise slavery, inequalities and exploitations human beings and nature.
The economic orthodoxies and its unnatural narratives have not only established capitalism but also normalised it as if there is no alternative to capitalism as a system. Similarly, political orthodoxies domesticate citizenship rights and dismantle democratic traditions in the name of nationalism and patriotism. 
The cultural and religious orthodoxies facilitate the political and economic orthodoxies to strengthen ruling and non-ruling elites’ control over natural and human resources. All orthodoxies colonise the humanity to sustain and expand subservient knowledge traditions supported by institutions and processes designed by people in power for profit. 
Orthodoxies are not natural but a product of socialisation with social, cultural, religious and political belief systems are created and disseminated to different generations to practice and normalise it.
Class, gender, caste, race and all other forms of inequality, discriminatory and divisive practices are products of orthodoxies. The culture of orthodoxies normalise consciousness by creating and socialising with the idea of puritanism and otherness at the same time. 
It facilitates knowledge traditions concomitant with hierarchy based on inferior and superior knowledge, culture, society, religion, people and state. Puritan knowledge and hierarchy ensures reproduction of power, patriarchy and dominance. Orthodoxies are against human happiness as it instils different forms of fear.
The culture of surrender and adherence to a defined set of ideas or a single doctrine diminishes human creative abilities and domesticates human consciousness in a monolithic direction that destroys dynamism of human potentials. Dogmas and narrow silos are natural outcomes of all orthodox traditions and practices. 
Class, gender, caste, race and all other forms of inequality, discriminatory and divisive practices are products of orthodoxies
All orthodoxies are assaults on science, reason, innovation, equality, liberty and human sensibilities. It justifies war, terror, conflicts and all forms of authoritarianisms in the name of peace and order. In reality, all orthodoxies create and establish different forms of institutions, processes and systems embedded with structural and other forms of violence. They destroy the emancipatory power of people by creating divisive cultures based on religion and nationalism, the twin opium of the masses. 
Orthodoxies promote various forms of convenient dogmas that sustain hierarchy and power over people. Therefore, orthodoxies are obstacles in the path of progressive social, political and economic transformations and deepening of democracy.
Resistance against all forms of orthodoxies are crucial for the emancipation of human beings and natural world. Individuals and communities must come together to challenge and overcome all orthodoxies for their own freedom to realise themselves as individuals, citizens, as members of communities and as social, political, cultural and spiritual beings. 
The peace, progress, prosperity, harmony, equality, justice and individual liberties can be realised only by defeating all forms of orthodoxies in our society, culture, politics, state and economy. The working-class masses are the worst victims of all orthodoxies. Different forms of class divided societies are products of orthodox ideological practices that destroy all conditions of human emancipation. 
Therefore, it is imperative for the working class struggles to ensure and defeat all forms of orthodoxies. End of all orthodoxies are the immediate necessities of our time for human emancipation, creativity and happiness.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

TRENDING

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram*   When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan*  “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández  The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

​ By Ram Puniyani  ​The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah  Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos  The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar*  Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement. 

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey*  ​In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.