India’s diaspora nationalism

Huge turnouts: Modi addressing the Indian diaspora during a recent community event. — The Statesman/ANN

LONG-DISTANCE nationalism acts as the “phantom bedrock” of connection for the Indian diaspora, as there is always a deeper emotion involved with the land of their forefathers than with their current residency or changed nationality.

Settling into foreign lands is never easy or always a welcoming process as the Indian diaspora is invariably a “minority” on foreign shores, and discrimination always lurks. Therefore, the quest for social acceptance as an “equal” is always imagined; only in the land of their nativity or among a gathering of its diaspora in distant lands.