Prime Minister highlighted that colonial mindset started taking root when in 1835, British MP Thomas Babington Macaulay launched a major campaign to uproot India from its cultural foundations.
- Macaulay’s Minute on Education in 1835 promoted English education in India at the expense of education in Oriental languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Arabic etc.
- To promotion of British Education system, Mahatma Gandhi noted that India’s ancient education system was a beautiful tree that was uprooted and destroyed.
Colonial Mindset in India: Core Elements
- Language: Use of English in courts and universities is seen as aspirational, sometimes hindering access for non-English speakers.
- Culture: Colonial rule imposed Western cultural elements including western dress, food, art forms, manners, and values, often projecting Indian knowledge systems as inferior.
- Laws & Institutions: Many colonial laws, such as the IPC (Indian Penal Code), Forest Laws, Sedition etc. and criminal procedures, are rooted in establishing control rather than service.
- Economic System: Imported economic models and emphasis on private capital led to impoverishment of a large section of population.
- Knowledge Systems: Indigenous knowledge systems forgotten due to large emphasis on imported models of research and innovation.
Cognitive Decolonisation: The Way Forward
|