‘Mother India’: Prayaag Akbar’s new novel excavates the often empty roots of nationalistic pride

For far too long we have been subjected to angry, vitriolic videos that promise to avenge supposed wrongdoings of the past and reinstate Mother India to her previous glory. This wrath is rarely directed towards the British (or other European colonisers) – who perhaps deserve it the most – and instead, almost always, towards the Mughal and other Muslim rulers who migrated to India in the conquest of land and riches. Never mind that these wars were fought many centuries ago and since the first conquerors, the subsequent rulers were “Indians” with little to no ties to their “original” lands. Until a few years ago, what was understood as a natural course of human migration is now the cause of India’s broken imperialistic dreams. Cultures that had successfully mingled with “local” cultures are now bitter reminders of how the docile “Indian” was cuckolded by these “foreign” forces.

The absurdity mounts with each video and there comes a time when the relentless manufacturing of lies makes you wonder what the reasons for it might be. Is it truly a deep, undying love for the country? Does your next-door neighbour indeed feel burdened by the country’s “Islamic” past? Is the present so perfect that there’s little...

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