nov 22nd, 2010
manmohan singh said a few years ago while he was being given an honorary doctorate at cambridge or oxford that british rule in india had been a great boon. i don't think he specified to whom it had been a boon.
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From:
K Macaulay, 1835, Minute on Indian Education:
We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and millions whom we govern-a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.
Mahatma Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, 1938 edition:
Reader: Be that as it may, all the disadvantages of railways are more than the counterbalanced by the fact that it is due to them that we see in India the new spirit of nationalism.
Editor (Mahatma Gandhi): I hold this to be a mistake. The English have taught us that we were not one nation before and that it will require centuries before we become one nation. This is without foundation. We were one nation before they came to India. One thought inspired us. Our mode of life was the same. It was because we were one nation that they were able to establish one kingdom. Subsequently they divided us.
Manmohan Singh, 2010, Hindustan (!!!!) Times Leadership (sic) Summit:
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-pm-manmohan-singh-at-ht-leadership-summit/20101120.htm
Consider the very creation of this blessed Republic of India. India was an imagined idea. We were a sub-continent divided at the time of independence. But through hard work, through wise leadership we have became a nation united. (Note - 'Wise leadership' i.e., hat tip to the cardinal clan).
Thank'ee Bwana!
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5 comments:
Gandhi is better used as an example of what Macaulay had in mind. Gandhi spent the majority of his life supporting the British Empire. Some of his writings and speeches in support of the British are embarrassing. The primary reason he changed his stance was due to the British role in the dismantling of the Ottoman Caliphate (contrary to the usual story of Jallianwala Bagh, though this massacre was a close second)
@Agneya, Even Swami Vivekananda had some good words for the English, for Americans and for white people. Let me know if you want the exact quotes.
It is one thing to have "some good words," it is another to wish for continued British rule in India, which is what Gandhi did. I would also be happy to show you exact quotes, or you can read them here:
Gandhi: A True Mahatma?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30729870/Gandhi-A-True-Mahatma-Complete
MK Gandhi may or may not be a Mahatma but none, not even Swami Vivekananda, argued more vehemently against Macaulay system. His writings on the need to dismantle Macaulay education should serve as guide to present and future generations.
It is a pity that Sangh folks cannot focus on any action needed to end the dominance of Angreziyat. All they do is blame Gandhi, Nehru and others and then disperse. Like a bunch of helpless widows. Show me one RSS debate in the last few decades that is focussed on action and not a wasteful history debate. What did NDA government do for our education?
1. Sangh folks rarely "blame" Gandhi. They are, for the most part, Gandhians themselves.
2. Gandhi argued "vehemently against the Macaulay" system? I disagree with this. Please read the fourth essay from Gandhi: A True Mahatma? You will find that Gandhi was a natural byproduct of Angreziyat. He believed that the Indians and the British were part of the same "Aryan" stock, to name one of many ideas he imbibed from the Foreign rulers.
3. As I already stated, and as you will read in the book, Gandhi was supportive of the British Empire until past his Fiftieth birthday. Hind Swaraj, when published, was a brief deviation from his tender devotion to the Raj. It was not until the Caliphate was dismantled that his allegiance permanently turned.
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