Language key to shed colonial mindset: Pradhan

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said language is one of the primary instruments to come out of the colonial mindset, which he referred to as “Macaulay mindset”, after the British civil servant who paved the way for an anglicised upper crust in the 19th century.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0 in Varanasi, Pradhan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call to the people of the country when he visited Ayodhya to hoist the saffron flag atop the Ram temple.

“In 1835, an aggressor with the name of Macaulay came to India and planned a conspiracy against Indian civilisation. He used language as a negative weapon. India is an independent country today. It has been 190 years since then, and we have to come out of the colonial mindset, the Macaulay mindset,” the BJP leader said, adding, there is no need to remain “dependent” on English.

Pradhan said that those who seek to do innovation must be proficient in their mother tongue — Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi.

“The prime minister has given a call to come out of the colonial mindset. Language is one of the primary instruments to come out of the colonial mindset,” he said.

Addressing a gathering in Ayodhya on November 25 after the flag hoisting, Modi said the moment symbolised a cultural resurgence for the nation and said there was a need to free the country from the “mentality of slavery.”

“Macaulay sowed the seeds of uprooting India from its roots 190 years ago. We gained Independence but not freedom from inferiority,” he said, adding, next 10 years should be dedicated to reversing this mindset.

Modi said that “colonial-era distortions” led to the belief that India borrowed democracy from abroad.