Describe Rabindranath Tagore's critique of Nationalism.

Rabindranath Tagore's critique of Nationalism:

(i)Rabindranath Tagore had preferred humanity over the patriotism.  He was against colonial rule and asserted India’s right to independence. He felt that in the British administration of the colonies, there was no place for ‘upholding of dignity of human relationships,’ an idea which was otherwise cherished in the British civilisation.

(ii)Tagore made a distinction between opposing western imperialism and rejecting western civilisation. While Indians should be rooted in their own culture and heritage, they should not resist learning freely and profitably from abroad. A critique of what he called ‘patriotism’ is a persistent theme in his writings.

(iii)He was very critical of the narrow expressions of nationalism that he found at work in parts of our independence movement. In particular, he was afraid that a rejection of the west in favour of what looked like Indian traditions was not only limiting in itself; it could easily turn into hostility to other influences from abroad, including Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Islam which have been present in our 108 country.