India an emerging model: PM

DELIVERING THE SIXTH Ramnath Goenka Lecture in the national capital on Monday — in which he recalled the Express Group founder’s fight against British rule as well as the Emergency — Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country should, within 10 years, remove its colonial mindset that is a result of Macaulay’s 1835 policy of colonising Indian minds through destruction of India’s own knowledge systems and imposition of colonial education on people.

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In 1835, Macaulay decided to produce Indians who were Indians by appearance but British at heart, the PM said, adding that for this, he destroyed the Indian education system. India paid a heavy price for this, Modi underlined, and the belief that what is western or foreign is superior became ingrained in the minds of people.

“We looked abroad for innovation. Imported ideas and goods were considered superior,” Modi said, adding that by 2035, 200 years after Macaulay’s policy was rolled out, the country would put a lock on this mindset. He asserted that many countries take pride in their language, and India's new education policy also focuses on mother tongues. The PM underlined that he was not an opponent of English, but wished to promote Indian languages.

RECALLING THE RECENT Bihar election victory of the NDA, Modi cautioned all state governments that their politics of today would determine the future of their political parties. People in Bihar had still not forgotten “jungle raj” of Lalu Prasad's days, he said.