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Karim Raslan

What is a nation? If it’s just a random grouping of people, what brings and then keeps them together?
Is it a shared history, religion, geography, culture or language? Can the reasons be merely economic: “Hey, we’re all making money, so why not “hang” together?”.
Well, for much of Asia, August was the month for flag-waving, patriotic songs and emotive nationalist videos. And please, we do not need to listen to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the Malaysian cabinet singing poorly. All we want is for them to focus on the economy.
Countries as varied as Singapore, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia celebrated their National Days in August.
Malaysia’s racial and religious tensions rage on, fuelled by politics
The celebrations sometimes provoke controversy: Malaysians remain undecided on their nation’s “birthday”. Is it Merdeka Day on August 31 or Malaysia Day on September 16?
Anyway, back in the 1990s and 2000s, we were all beginning to think – thanks to authors Francis Fukuyama and Thomas Friedman – that nation-states had reached their expiry date.

Globalisation, free trade and open borders were going to undermine national identities and meld them into a seamless, borderless world blessed with liberal democracy and capitalism. Ahem … we all know how that went.
Nation-states have fought back. They are in rude health – thanks in part to Donald Trump – everywhere. And yet, they remain fragile, artificial constructs. The late historian Benedict Anderson with customary flair described them as “imagined communities”.
They were, after all, a relatively new development. “State” and “nation” have been so conflated that the two are now considered one and the same.
Almost everyone lives in one of the world’s 186 nation-states. And as nation-states have grown stronger, life for those who are excluded – such as Myanmar’s Rohingya – has become infinitely more terrible, because without citizenship one can have little or no access to education, jobs, property or banking.
In Assam, India creates its own Rohingya and calls them ‘Bangladeshi’
Still, one of the best ways of assessing a nation’s success or failure is how it treats its minorities.
Nations need to possess a relatively inclusive, overarching identity – a set of ideas that can make anyone feel they belong. How else can we plan for the future, marry, have children and build their lives?
However, robust nation-states aren’t always nice places to live if you’re a minority.
Narendra Modi’s India has chosen an aggressively majoritarian path: asserting Hindu rights and identity above all else. With the predominantly Muslim state of Kashmir under lockdown and countless public lynchings of Muslims, the republic’s reputation as a tolerant, secular polity has been tossed away.

On August 31, India published the final draft of its National Register of Citizens. The move, allegedly to verify who belongs and who does not, left millions of Muslims in the northeastern state of Assam, on the border with Bangladesh, stateless.
While Thailand’s polity is supremely Thai and Buddhist, the king’s defining role has long helped bind the minorities to the centre, or at least, the Chakri dynasty. This was certainly true of King Bhumibol Adulyadej – but will his successor Vajiralongkorn command the same reverence?
Malaysia, in contrast, allows its minorities to retain their cultural autonomy while privileging the norms of and providing affirmative action to the majority Malay Muslim community.
That, however, has not been able to break down the walls of suspicion between them. Everything – from education to business – seems to be politicised and racialised, in a race to the bottom.

The national identity in Vietnam, which marks its National Day today, has been heavily coloured by its struggles against Chinese, French and American domination. It’s what defines them, drives them to excel. In effect, being Vietnamese means fighting and lately working to stay free.
Indonesia, despite being the largest Muslim country in the world, does not tie its national identity to religion – but rather to the nation-building project Sukarno and his colleagues embarked upon in 1945.
But there are nuances: the socio-economic and cultural divide between North and South persists in Vietnam. Indonesia under the New Order suppressed both Chinese-Indonesian and regional identities.
Today, Indonesia must deal with the implications of the 2019 presidential elections, which resulted in President Joko Widodo’s re-election, thanks largely to Javanese and non-Muslim voters while losing ground elsewhere, especially in Sumatra. Moreover, unrest is building in Papua and West Papua over alleged incidents of racism against the largely Melanesian provinces’ students.




Indeed, Indonesians and their leaders have had to constantly work to live up to their pluralistic state ideology of Pancasila and “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (unity of diversity) motto.
To be fair, Widodo’s recent decision to shift Indonesia’s capital to Kalimantan – where only 6 per cent of the republic’s population lives – highlights a conscious decision to reject majoritarianism.
It recalls Indonesia’s early nationalists selecting a dialect of Malay that eventually became Bahasa Indonesia to unite their diverse, fledging nation, a trading lingua franca that, unlike Javanese, everyone could “own”.
Will the current capital relocation similarly pay off given that it must be sustained by administrations long after Widodo has left office? Only time will tell.
So, with some notable exceptions, things do not seem very good for Asia’s minorities.
But then again, the failure of the global, liberal elite to stem the tide of populist demagogues powered by fake news means that this trend isn’t limited to our continent.
That is where we find ourselves in 2019, even as our nations celebrate their respective birthdays. The key point to remember is that nation-making is a constant process, from generation to generation, as we seek to reinvent what it means to belong to our respective nations.
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Malaysia

As nationalism rises, what holds Asian countries together?

The procession for Malaysia’s Merdeka Day parade walks by. Photo: Team Ceritalah

A group of young boys sit on the edge of a wall, some brandishing flags and wearing masks.

A woman displays a document that shows inclusion of her name in the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Pabhokati village in Morigaon district, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. India has published the final citizenship list in the Indian state of Assam, excluding nearly two million people amid fears they could be rendered stateless. The list, known as the National Register of Citizens (NRC), intends to identify legal residents and weed out illegal immigrants from the state. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Students of Surabaya march in Indonesia’s Merdeka Day parade

Malaysia’s racial and religious divisions widen as opposition seeks political gain

Workers hang Malaysian flags ahead of celebrations for the country's 62nd anniversary of independence on August 31. Photo: Reuters

Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court for his trial over 1MDB corruption allegations in Kuala Lumpur on August 19, 2019. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)

Screenshot of the Facebook post showing a man burning a Malaysian flag.

Fire Dragon dancers perform on a street of Bukit Bintang during a procession to celebrate the Chinese deity Zhang Gong Sheng Jun's birthday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/FL Wong)

Muslim cleric Ahmad Awang.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during a press conference on Tuesday, Aug 27, 2019, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Mahathir is on a three-day visit to Hanoi to promote trade and the bilateral relation with the fellow ASEAN country. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Abandoned in Assam: India creates its own Rohingya, and calls them ‘Bangladeshi’

Assam residents queue under guard to check their names against the National Register of Citizens list. Photo: AFP

Hilal, left, with his father. Photo Debasish Roy Chowdhury

The house Bala could not finish building. Photo Debasish Roy Chowdhury

A woman takes an iris scan to link her Aadhar card with National Register of Citizens (NRC) during a hearing at a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) in Barpeta district in the state of Assam, on August 10, 2019. (Photo by David TALUKDAR / AFP)

In this photo taken on December 8, 2018, villagers gather to check their documents at a National Register of Citizens (NRC) help centre for people whose names were not featured in the final draft of the NRC at Hatisola village in Kamrup district in India's northeastern Assam state. - Some four million people were left off a draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in July in the northeastern state of Assam. Those not on the list can challenge their omission by providing certain documents, but many lack the paperwork and time is running short as a December 31 deadline looms. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP) / To go with 'INDIA-POLITICS-RIGHTS-ASSAM,FOCUS' by Anup SHARMA

A woman, whose name is left out in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) draft, stands in a queue to collect forms to file appeals at a NRC Sewa Kendra (NSK) in Guwahati on August 11, 2018. - India on July 30 stripped four million people of citizenship in the northeastern state of Assam, under a draft list that has sparked fears of deportation of largely Bengali-speaking Muslims. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)

A man whose name was left out in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) draft gives his thumb print as he collects forms to file an appeal in Mayong, 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of Gauhati, India, Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. A draft list of citizens in Assam, released in July, put nearly 4 million people on edge to prove their Indian nationality. Nativist anger churns through Assam, just across the border from Bangladesh, with many believing the state is overrun with illegal migrants. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Suro and Amiya. Photo Debasish Roy Chowdhury

In this photograph taken on July 1, 2019, Mohammed Rehat Ali (R), 71, one of many to fall foul of a citizenship process in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, holds a Supreme Court of India's order declaring him an Indian citizen as he stands with his wife Joiful Begum at his home at Khopnikuchi village in Assam's Kamrup district. - Born in India 71 years ago, Mohammed Rehat Ali is still traumatised a month after his release from a detention camp, struggling to shake off a fear for the future shared by millions -- many of them Muslims -- under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP) / TO GO WITH INDIA-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION,FOCUS BY ANUP SHARMA

Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, delivers a speech during an event celebrating the nation's Independence Day at Red Fort in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019. Modi has hit back at critics of his government's decision to revoke Kashmir's autonomy, saying its special status had only led to terrorism and corruption. Photographer. T. Narayan/Bloomberg

The Bala family. Photo Debasish Roy Chowdhury

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel stand guard at a temporary camp ahead of the publication of the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the Juria village of Nagaon district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, December 28, 2017. REUTERS/Anuwar Hazarika

In this Aug. 15, 2017, file photo, flood affected villagers travel by boat in floodwaters in Morigaon district, east of Gauhati, northeastern state of Assam. Heavy monsoon rains have unleashed landslides and floods that killed hundreds of people in recent days and displaced millions more across northern India, southern Nepal and Bangladesh. Deadly landslides and flooding are common across South Asia during the summer monsoon season that stretches from June to September. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

Explained: what has led to the violent riots in Indonesia’s Papua?

Thousands march at a protest in Jayapura, Papua province. Photo: EPA-EFE

People burn tires during a protest at a road in Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia, August 19, 2019 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Toyiban/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. INDONESIA OUT.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo speaks to the media about the deaths of construction workers after a shooting in the country's easternmost province of Papua, at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia December 5, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Wahyu Putro A/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. INDONESIA OUT.

epa07780089 A local parliament building burns during a protest in Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia, 19 August 2019. According to media reports, protesters set fire to the local parliament building and cars during a protest against the detention of Papuan students in Surabaya for damaging a national flag pole outside of a dormitory. EPA-EFE/STRINGER BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE

TOPSHOT - Protesters take to the street to face off with Indonesian police in Manokwari, Papua on August 19, 2019. - Riots broke out in Indonesia's Papua with a local parliament building torched as thousands protested allegations that police tear-gassed and arrested students who supported the restive region's independence. (Photo by STR / AFP)

People display banners that read "Stop intimidation and racism towards indigenous Papuans" during a protest in Manokwari, Papua province, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. The protest was sparked by accusations that Indonesian police who backed by the military, have arrested and insulted dozens of Papuan students in their dormitory in East Java's cities of Surabaya and Malang a day earlier. (AP Photo/Safwan Ashari Raharusun)

Injured, pregnant Kashmiris cut off from emergency aid as phone lines go dead in Modi’s communications blackout

Rafiqa Manzoor’s mother sits in the truck. Photo: Sanna Irshad Mattoo

Family of Rafiqa in the load carrier at the LD hospital. Photo: Sanna Irshad Mattoo

At Dar's house, a man looks into a room, burnt and doused. Photo: Sanna Irshad Mattoo

Mohammad Altaf Dar injured his feet escaping from his home after it caught fire. Photo: Sanna Irshad Mattoo

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Nations need to possess a relatively inclusive, overarching identity – a set of ideas that can make anyone feel they belong
However, the plights of the Rohingya, Kashmiris and racism against Papuans, show robust nation-states aren’t always nice places to live in if you’re a minority



Nations need to possess a relatively inclusive, overarching identity – a set of ideas that can make anyone feel they belong.


Religion

Racism and other prejudice

Human rights

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

Ceritalah

Ceritalah | As nationalism rises, what holds Asian countries together?

Nations need to possess a relatively inclusive, overarching identity – a set of ideas that can make anyone feel they belong However, the plights of the Rohingya, Kashmiris and racism against Papuans, show robust nation-states aren’t always nice places to live in if you’re a minority

Nations need to possess a relatively inclusive, overarching identity – a set of ideas that can make anyone feel they belong

However, the plights of the Rohingya, Kashmiris and racism against Papuans, show robust nation-states aren’t always nice places to live in if you’re a minority