Rabindranath Tagore: Nation and Nationalism

Many thinkers such as Gandhi, Savarkar, and Tilak in India have propounded their views on Nationalism in different ways. Rabindranath Tagore is one such cosmopolitan philosopher whose idea of nationalism finds a distinct place in the whole debate about the very idea of nationalism. His idea of nationalism was never restricted to India only instead it had worldwide appeal. Tagore would never fit in the kind of discourse that is taking place in contemporary India in the name of nationalism often said and misquoted as 'Hindu nationalism'. He was against the exclusionary features and self-aggrandizing character which is often found in various discourses on nationalism. He found the elements such as chauvinism, aggression, the feeling of others and false pride... very common in the ideas of nationalism and therefore, he vehemently discredited it. For Tagore such features in nationalism were not in the interest of humanity at large. This is evident from his archetypal work, 'Nationalism'. However, if we look deep into the works and ideas of Tagore regarding nationalism, he considered it to be good as long as nationalism serves the interests of the poor and deprived people. Thus, opposition of the British authority for the reason that they are causing inhuman exploitation and impoverishment of the country, he would gladly associate and love to be in the league of nationalists. He vehemently opposed to any kind of racial and undemocratic behaviors of Englishmen to Indians. But if the schema of nationalism was merely self-determination from the British authority just because they are not Indian, he would never stand with such an idea. Tagore and Gandhi had a very attention-grabbing dialogue on various themes and he disagrees with Mahatma on numerous counts courteously. Tagore's disagreement with Gandhi on 'Swadeshi' which was an essential tool of Gandhi in the fight against the British clout, Tagore found it irrational. This paper would underline the ideas of Tagore vis-à-vis nationalism at length and would also critically analyze the debate between Gandhi and Tagore.