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New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Delivering a fiery speech at the Ramnath Goenka Lecture at the ‘Excellence in Journalism Awards’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a nationwide call: Free India from the “slave mentality” established by British colonialist Thomas Babington Macaulay nearly two centuries ago.
In a sweeping criticism linking Congress’ alleged patronage of Maoists and urban Naxalites to the destruction of India’s ancient education system, PM Modi announced that the next ten years would see the final demise of Macaulay’s ghost.
PM Modi said, “Almost every major state was once in the grip of Maoist terrorists. Who nurtured them? Congress gave birth to Maoists and urban Naxalites who openly rejected the Constitution of India.” “Maoists from the Muslim League have now become city councilors of the Congress,” he said.
This comment, made just hours after the NDA’s massive victory in Bihar, was met with shrill laughter and applause in equal measure.
Turning to the immense legacy of veteran Ramnath Goenka, the Prime Minister lauded the founder of the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper as a warrior who challenged British censorship in 1835, two decades before the 1857 rebellion.
PM Modi said, “Ramnath ji wrote in his editorial; I would rather close my newspaper than bow down to British ideals. Today again that fearless spirit is needed.”
At the center of his speech was a scathing indictment of Macaulay’s 1835 Minutes on Education.
PM Modi said, “Macaulay wanted to create a class of people, Indian in blood and colour, but British in tastes, opinions, morals and intellect. He uprooted our glorious Gurukul system – a beautiful tree that blended knowledge with skill, culture with pride – and in its place set up a factory that produced clerks who were ashamed of their own heritage.”
PM Modi expressed regret that even after independence, successive governments continued chasing foreign models.
“We looked to the West for education, innovation, even language. We were taught to consider anything ‘imported’ as superior and anything indigenous as inferior.”
He accused the opponents of the National Education Policy of waging the same old fight.
“We are not against English; we are against the deliberate neglect of Indian languages. In which country are their own mother tongues treated like orphans?”
The Prime Minister announced a decisive national mission: “By 2035 – exactly 200 years after Macaulay’s crime – India will be completely free from the slavery mentality. In the next ten years, we will rebuild pride in our heritage, our languages and our knowledge systems. This is my appeal to every citizen through the platform of The Indian Express.”
As the audience applauded, PM Modi linked Goenka’s fearless journalism to India’s ongoing transformation.
“Ramnath ji fought colonial slavery with his pen. Today, we fight mental slavery with education, innovation and unwavering confidence. The Indian Express has witnessed every chapter of this journey – and the most glorious chapter is yet to be written.”
–IANS
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