Constructions of National Space: Tracing the Development of Upadhyay's Nationalist Thought

India's nationalist response to British colonialism cannot be brushed aside
lightly. The colonial ideology had legitimized their continued
existence through the claim that India was not a nation. Over and
against this colonial claim, the anti-colonial nationalism required
to forge a national identity. In the process of confronting British
colonialism Indian nationalists like Brahmabandhab Upadhyay
felt the need to create a national identity through the mediation
o f  complex mechanisms. Out of several competing claims o f  what
constituted such national identity, a common Hindu heritage,
based on the classical Hindu ethos originally created by the Ary­-
ans, was projected as the core structure o f  nationhood. Indeed,
there are several aspects of Upadhyay’s nationalist thought which
are open to criticism. Upadhyay’s nationalism was a response to
a situation in which the loss of Self was looming large in the po­-
litical and cultural horizon.