It is reported that youths are fleeing the country and finding it difficult to get flight tickets, and a huge cavalcade of cars have piled up on the border with Georgia to cross over into that country to avoid the military services.
New Delhi: Nationalism boomerangs when flogged too much. Also, it cannot be invoked for far too long to cover up failures or sub-optimal achievements because a nation cannot be kept in a frenzy state for too long a period in the name of nationalism. Chauvinism and xenophobia may look very beneficient in the beginning but in the long run it devastates the nation which opts this course
Any ideology, be it nationalism, communism or liberalism, outlives its utility and goes out of control when it is made into a religion and any digression from it is branded as a blasphemy inviting retribution.
History has taught us this umpteen number of times. Yet, we have not been any the wiser. Nations even in the twenty-first century are harnessing nationalism in the name of language, religious denominations and ethnicity to revive the perceived past glory or to avenge historical wrongs.
No doubt, it pays rich dividends in a massive increase in electoral fortunes. And politicians get convinced that it will last forever. But it becomes a losing game when people see through it. When people realise that the myth of nationalism is proving dear, they start reacting negatively to it, and instead to blindly supporting the politicians orchestrating it they begin opposing it vehemently,
Not only does a feeling dawn on them that it is proving ruinous to their country but also that they are getting isolated in the comity of nations. Putin’s Russia is suffering this agony on the continuing six months old war with Ukraine, with youths refusing to conscript in the army. News reports say that youths fit for conscription are fleeing Russia to avoid recruitment.
The military mobilisation started after Putin issued an order to summon thousands of reservists for the war following the reverses it suffered in the battles with the Ukrainian military.
It is reported that youths are fleeing the country and finding it difficult to get flight tickets, and a huge cavalcade of cars have piled up on the border with Georgia to cross over into that country to avoid the military services.
It is also rumoured that Russia is thinking of closing the borders to prevent the exodus. The regime has sent out a clear cut message through official sources that anyone fit for conscription should not be permitted to leave the country.
According to another report, about two thousand people have been arrested following the protests against the conscription. The state controlled media have also criticised the authorities on the issue. Yet another report says that a gunman opened fire at a military draft office inthe Irkutsk region of the country. Another military age youth tried to set himself on fire while registering his protest against fighting Ukraine.
The war is telling on the Russian citizens, and no amount of nationalism dose will make them agreeable with Putin’s seemingly interminable war. It is not that the nation-wide protest has burst out suddenly following the pushback of the Russian military at the hands of the Ukraine’s army.
The Russians started protesting against the war immediately after it was declared by Putin. They are also showing the signs of war ennui as it is dragging on with no decisive signs of the Russian Goliath anywhere near the victory.
International leaders are also turning against Russia. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly told him to de-escalate, observing that the world of war is over. But Putin finds himself between the devil and the deep sea: if he orders a cease fire he will likely lose his perceived charisma in the country and come down a few notches in his international stature. But one thing seems certain: that the protest by the Russians will not abate and no amount of coercion and jingoism is going to rescue Putin from the quagmire in which he has taken himself into.
