Patriotism
means in essence, the love of one’s own country. An individual citizen who
loves his country and is loyal to it at all cost, even at the cost of his own
life is, a patriot. A patriot is one who is always willing to sacrifice all
that belongs to him at the altar of his country. This is the measure of
patriot’s extreme love for his country and in common terms it is called
patriotism. India has seen a spate of several patriots in the early decades of the 20th century. When the motherland was writhing in
pain under foreign rule, these patriots took birth and helped the country to
come out of the wilderness of foreign domination. They sacrificed their lives,
their pleasures, their families at the altar of freedom for their motherland
from the shackles of foreign rule.
In Oct, 1930,
Jawaharlal Nehru, from the Nainital Prison, wrote to his dear daughter, Indira
thus, “We have India’s honour in our keeping, and that honour is a sacred
trust”. Keeping the honour and the name of the country ‘ever high and ever
flying’ is the fundamental duty of every citizen. A nation can leap forward
only if its citizens are patriotic who are ready to live and die for their
motherland. Basically,
it is putting national feelings above personal feelings and national concerns
above personal gains. It is living and dying for one’s motherland. It is the
deep fervour coupled with the spirit of working for the advancement of one’s
country.
The spirit of patriotism is not merely a
noble sentiment within the heart. If it is so, then it is only sham patriotism.
True patriotism calls for certain concrete actions and external expressions.
First and foremost, it requires offering our valuable services when national
integrity and independence is threatened by external forces or neighbours. It
demands offering material and moral support in the fight for national freedom.
Patriotism does not always mean that you
have to sacrifice your life for your country; contributing good service towards
the country and its people is also equivalent to your sacrifice. Mathunny
Mathews has set a great example of patriotism. Mathunny Mathews was an Indian,
a resident in Kuwait, and was one of the people credited with the safe airlift
evacuation of about 1, 70,000 Indians from Kuwait during the 1990 invasion of
Kuwait. Only celebrating the flag hoisting ceremony on 15th August and 26th January,
posing for photos with the flag, and posting on social media doesn’t imply that
you are a true patriot. A real patriot is a person who has a true love for his
country. He fights against the atrocities upon his countrymen by insiders or
outsiders of the country. Patriotism is the most
important thing for the development of a country. As patriots think about the
country, its growth, and countrymen’s improvement, it positively impacts the
development of the country. A sense of patriotism helps to reduce corruption
and riots hence the country develops effectively
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