Recipe for patriots

But is it something new that we are hearing these days? We don't have to hire HG Well's Time Machine to travel to a distant past to find evidences that what the politicians here and there are telling their people about the need to breed more patriots is in fact a practice that has been followed by them without any interruption from time immemorial. "Death is a master from Germany his eyes are blue"in this sad but beautiful line Paul Celan wonderfully described the destiny of a nation injected by heavy doses of patriotism. Adolf Hitler wanted each and every German to be a true patriot and implanted the message firmly in the heart of the German nation. The end result of that patriotic zeal, which Celan termed as the master from Germany, we all now know very well.

Japan too had gone through the same process of producing patriots ever since the Imperial Rescript on Education was promulgated by Emperor Meiji in October 1890, which called on students to sacrifice them courageously to the state, should emergency arise. Japanese textbooks on ethics of pre World War II period stressed further the need to become a true patriot by saying; "We who are born in such a precious country, who have over us such an august Imperial Family, and who, again, are the descendants of subjects who have bequeathed such beautiful customs, must become splendid Japanese and do our utmost for our empire."

Many obviously tried to become "splendid Japanese" when the Imperial Japanese army started moving westward to Asian mainland. But the process, as we know, brought untold misery to many other Asians who had to pay the price of the patriotic education that Japanese leadership of the time patronised. For Japan too, the end result of patriotic fervour patronised by politicians and officials turned out to be a misery and the country had no other choice but to surrender unconditionally in August 1945. The road to narrow patriotism, as a result, is a risky one that seldom brings good to a nation. But politicians always seem to keep a blind eye on such a risk as this also might bring lucrative gain for them in the short term.

Hence, when the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers (SCAP) took over the responsibility of running the affairs of the state of Japan soon after the war, one of the first thing it did was to replace the symbol of Japan's pre-World War II education system, the Imperial Rescript on Education, by a new code that would ease the heavy burden of patriotic education from the shoulders of school children. Thus, the Fundamental Law of Education was enacted in 1947.

But now, more than a hundred years after the promulgation of the Imperial Rescript on Education and more than sixty years after the bankruptcy of the Rescript was exposed with Japan's humiliating defeat in the war, politicians in Japan are again talking about the need for a guideline to teach children the virtues of patriotism. The cabinet in early May approved a bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education that critics say will try to inject the dose of patriotism in children and could give the state more control over classrooms. The bill has now been submitted to the Diet and the ruling coalition wants its passage before the parliamentary session ends in mid June.

The Fundamental Law of Education, as mentioned earlier, was enacted in 1947 to replace the Imperial Rescript on Education and since then it has never been revised. The Japanese Diet had just started deliberations on a bill to revise the law. A number of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers have criticised the existing law for what they termed as "distorting education" by placing undue emphasis on individualism and they want a direct reference to fostering a patriotic spirit, something similar to the Imperial Rescript, though not identical. But the ruling coalition is not united on the issue as the junior partner of the LDP, New Komei Party, intends to avoid any reference that would mean a direct call for such education.

The opposition parties, on the other hand, are concerned that even the ambiguous wording would also lead to patriotism being forced on children. The main opposition, Democratic Party of Japan, is in favour of a revision of the law, but wants the revision to concentrate solely on addressing the fundamental distortion in the education system., not on fanning patriotic zeal. The bill also has prompted concerns and questions from educators as well. Many are confused with the idea of teaching respect for Japan or the notion of love of nation or homeland. There is a wide ranging disagreement among teachers on how they are going to teach the virtue of loving one's own country. Many are not sure if the love for the nature, people and culture of one's own country might lead to the same narrow path that once led Japan to a virtual dead-end of extreme nationalism.

It is not yet clear if the bill would get through the current session of the Diet. Obviously time is running short for the ruling coalition and the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Shinzo Abe, said recently that the ruling block was not considering extending the Diet session. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi too repeatedly indicated he didn't have any plan to extend the session. This led to some believe that Koizumi might not be enthusiastic enough about the passage of the bill and he is probably more willing to leave the controversy surrounding the revision of the Fundamental Education Law to his successor to handle.

Whatever the reality might be, it seems beyond doubt that the genie of patriotic education has come out of the sealed bottle in Japan. As a result, in coming days as well, politicians will be seen debating fiercely on what recipe to be adopted so that Japanese children once again learn the virtue of, if not becoming "splendid Japanese", at least loving their own country without disturbing others.