Nationalism
Screen grab
Who stands and who doesn’t during the national anthem is dividing opinion in the US – but in India it’s eliciting brawls. It is compulsory that cinemas in India preface the show with an on-screen rendition of the national anthem – “Jana Gana Mana”, penned by India's first Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore – accompanied by an image of the flag. Yet those who don’t get to their feet during the 52-second tune (including, in a recent incident, one unfortunate wheelchair-bound viewer) run the risk of facing public wrath, with fights having broken out between cinemagoers. Nationalism – ironically – is turning countrymen on one another. The violence is indicative of India’s growing problem of mob rule, which is tied up with the Hindu nationalist tone that’s being cultivated by the central government.