Patriotism double-edged sword, boils blood, closes mind: Sidhu

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 2

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Congress leader and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu continued to cement his pro-peace and pro-dialogue position in the midst of Indo-Pakistan tensions by posting another tweet today which argued that patriotism was a double-edged sword.

He used Twitter to caution people against a leader “who bangs the drums of war”. In an indirect reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sidhu tweeted: “Beware of the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into patriotic fervour, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.”

He said patriotism emboldens the blood just as it narrows the mind. “And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry, [who] infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so,” he said, receiving appreciation for his stand from some Congress leaders like former Kerala CM Oomen Chandy and MP Abhijeet Mukherjee, the son of former President Pranab Mukherjee.