For all that the US seems to be anthem-happy, apparently people in India are even more gung-ho. Now a new Indian Supreme Court ruling requires the anthem to be played before every movie (which sounds silly, but why is it sillier than before every football game?), and people are being arrested for not standing up and facing the (projected) flag.
On the other hand, I'll bet there are folk here reading about this and thinking, "Hey, that sounds like a great idea!"
Originally shared by +Washington Post:
This is what happens when people in India refuse to stand for their national anthem
This is what happens when people in India refuse to stand for their national anthem
An Indian court ruling takes a toll.
104 view(s)
How is it that fascism is thriving everywhere at once?
I don't look at it as a fetish, but as a religious movement. Surprising that more Christians (or Jews or Muslims) in the US or Hindus in India aren't offended.
The national anthem used to be played in cinemas in Australia until the 1970s. A local commentator, Phillip Adams, tells of how he was encouraged in cinema patriotism by being punched in the head from behind for failing to stand to attention quickly enough in the early 1950s.
+John E. Bredehoft Overt and ritualized nationalism is certainly a civil religion in many ways. From festooning everything with flags, to the National Anthem at sporting events, to the Flag Salute kicking off school sessions, it all gets a bit crazy here in the US.
While certain Christian sects object to such stuff (e.g., the Jehovah's Witnesses, I believe), I suspect most go along with it because they syncretize the civil religion to their organized one (and thus some think it's quite obvious that America is a Christian Nation). Others just treat it as social ritual.
(My impression is that this was amplified in the 40s and 50s during the fights against Fascism and, then, even more so, Communism.)
The practice was started in 1962, based on a Government order, after the war with the Chinese to drum up a national spirit to face such external threats. It was common practice to end all public events with the singing of the National Anthem even earlier. But its introduction in cinema halls was started in 1962. In the initial period there was a great welcome to this. Subsequently it lost momentum.
At the end of any public event where large number of people gather, there is a rush to leave the venue to catch public transportation beating the crowd. This tendency worked making people to leave the premises even before the anthem started. Seeing widespread flouting, the practice gradually lost support. By 1975 it was discontinued in most places. In the last year, a Governor of a state was seen walking away from a government function before the anthem was played. When he heard the anthem played as he was walking out he froze to a stop.
Someone filed a public interest litigation recently citing the government mandated requirement is still a requirement and cinema houses are not implementing it. Though most news reports suggest the Courts have ordered people should stand, the situation is that the court upheld that a currently active government directive has to be followed. There is also a clause in the constitution that mandates all citizens to respect the national flag and the national anthem etc. So when people do not stand up, it amounts to insult.
The practice was introduced in 1962 after a war. So the entire nation had an emotional reaction to comply with it. The reinforcement is coming in a situation where the emotional threat to the nation is lower. Hence it has become a controversy.
+Sowmyan Tirumurti Thanks for the background information.
Personally, I cavil at being mandated by law to "respect" something (though politeness to those who want to show respect ought to be a social obligation).