Assumptions About Nation

Shared Beliefs:

 A nation is constituted by belief.

• Nations do not exist independently of the beliefs that people hold about them
• Voice of a people as a nation: Do not make any comments about their physical appearance or behaviour
• It refers to a group’s collective identity and vision for the future that aspires to have its own political existence
• A nation’s existence is defined by the unanimous feeling of belonging together in its members

History: 

-Nations perceive themselves to have a presence that reaches far into the past as well as far into the future

-They articulate for themselves a unique interpretation of their history by drawing on collective memories, legends, historical records, and base upon it the continuing identity of the nation

-For example- Nationalists in India invoked its ancient civilization, cultural heritage, and other achievements to claim that India has had a long and continuing history as a civilization and that this is the basis of the current identity of the Indian nation

Territory:

Nations identify with a particular territory. 

–Imagine yourself as one people with a common past, and living together on a specific territory for an extended period of time gives people a sense of their collective identity

-Feeling of homeland: The territory they occupied and the land on which they have lived has a special significance for them and they claim it as their own 

-Nations characterize the homeland in different ways, such as motherland or holy land

For example, the Jewish people, in spite of being dispersed and scattered in different parts of the world, always claimed that their original homeland was in Palestine, the ‘promised land.

-Also, cause of conflict: Since more than one set of people may lay claim to the same territory

-Shared Political Ideals: A shared vision of the future and a collective aspiration of an independent political existence distinguishes groups from nations

-Members of a nation share a vision of the kind of state they want to build

-They affirm a set of values and principles such as democracy, secularism, and liberalism

-Political identity: These ideals represent the terms under which they come together and are willing to live together

-In a democracy, the shared commitment to a set of political values and ideals is the most critical basis of a political community or a nation-state

-Within it, members of the political community are bound by a set of obligations that arise from the recognition of the rights of each other as citizens

-A nation is strengthened when its people recognize and accept their obligations to their fellow members

Restriction of government powers 

However, this is clearly insufficient. Assume you determined who had decision-making authority. But then this authority enacted laws that you felt were clearly unjust. It forbids you from practicing your religion, for example. Or it said that wearing a certain colour of clothing was forbidden, or that you couldn’t sing certain songs, or that people from a certain group (caste or religion) had to serve others all the time and couldn’t keep any property. Or that the government could arrest someone arbitrarily, or that only people of a certain skin colour would be permitted to draw water from wells. You would undoubtedly consider these laws to be unjust and unfair.

Common Political Identity 

Many individuals trust that common political thoughts regarding the state and society are adequately not to tie people all together. They look for rather a common social character, like a normally shared language, or normal plunge. In any case, this can represent a danger to popularity based qualities in manners like:

-Internally diverse religions: 

-They have survived and evolved over dialogues within the community

-There exist within each religion, various sects who differ significantly in their interpretation of the religious texts and norms

-If these differences are ignored and forge an identity based on a common religion this is likely to create a highly authoritative and oppressive society

-Most societies are culturally diverse

-They have people belonging to diverse religions and languages co-existing with harmony in the same territory

-No equal treatment: Imposing a solitary strict or phonetic way of life as a condition having a place with a particular state would generally preclude a couple of get-togethers

-It might restrict the religious liberty of the excluded groups or disadvantage citizens who do not speak the national language

Due to the above reasons, it is desirable to imagine the nation in political rather than cultural terms. Democracies must emphasize and expect loyalty to a set of morals and values that may be enshrined within the Constitution of the country instead of adherence to a particular religion, race, or language.

In Conclusion:- 

The most serious criticism levelled at identity politics is that it is frequently undermined by the same indicators that are supposed to underpin one’s sense of self or community.

Despite the fact that identity politics is involved in a variety of aspects of oppression and powerlessness, reclaiming and transforming negative aspects used by dominant groups into powerful tools for building positive images of self and community.