THE RSS ideologues and their cohorts have so far focused on issues like “evil Muslim rulers” and their atrocities on Hindus, such as destroying temples and forcing them to convert to Islam. As per this narrative, India had a golden period in the past and Muslim invaders brought in evil practices. Recently, Hindutva thinkers have also started focusing on the evils of British colonialism.
In a recent speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that we should resolve to free ourselves from colonial mindset in the next 10 years. In ten years, it will be 200 years when Lord Macaulay (1800-1859) introduced the pattern of education in English. As per Modi “…Macaulay project was to reshape Indian thought by dismantling indigenous knowledge systems and enforcing colonial education”. Modi goes on to state that Macaulay’s crime was to create Indians “who are Indians in appearance but British in thought.” This system broke India’s self-confidence and introduced a sense of inferiority. (Indian Express November 18, 2025)
Modi criticised Macaulay’s intention to destroy indigenous knowledge systems and impose colonial education. Interestingly, this criticism comes from an ideology that kept a safe distance from the anti-colonial struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi. While Modi’s camp blames Macaulay for our shortcomings, Dalit thinkers like Chandrabhan Prasad praises Macaulay’s contribution, saying it laid the foundation for Dalit and marginalised communities’ struggle for dignity and equality.
Modi and his ilk see Macaulay’s legacy as a linear, imposed culture. However, modern education brought liberal values and opened doors to knowledge for all sections of society, including women and Dalits. These marginalised sections were deprived of education as this luxury was restricted exclusively for the upper caste.
Traditional knowledge systems were controlled by privileged groups, limiting access to knowledge and power. The knowledge propounded by the likes of Sushrut, Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Lokayat stream and Bhaskar had a tremendous contribution in pushing forward society in the direction of enlightenment. Macaulay’s education system, despite its limitations, created a class of nationalists who challenged colonial rule.
True, Macaulay had vested interests in producing the clerks and other sections who could serve the British empire. It is also true that the likes of Rudyard Kipling tried to undermine the Indians when they glorified the British by terming their mission here as “white man’s burden”. English education spread regional languages, and many notable writers contributed to their development. The Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi, Patel, and Nehru, all products of this system, fought against colonialism. The benefits of this system were summarised in Nehru’s famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech.
Did English suppress the regional languages? As a matter of fact, education in general promoted regional languages as well. Tilak (Maratha) and Gandhi (Navjivan) started their newspapers in regional languages. The doyens of regional languages contributed in this period also, Rabindranath Tagore and Munshi Premchand, to name just a few.
Many British researchers contributed to the recovery of our heritage like Brahmi Script and the structures like Ajanta-Ellora. Swaminathan Aiyer (The Times of India, November 2025) points out that the British created… ‘Archaeological Survey of India’ headed by Alexander Cunningham. Digging up mounds across India he uncovered dozens of dazzling sites from Taxila to Nalanda…” This is one example of the India centric outcome from colonial rule, though it was not their aim but just an outcome.
The traditional knowledge systems can only be enriched by an interaction with other systems of thought. With the formation of linguistic states there is all the space for regional languages and the traditional knowledge systems. The only caveat is that the interaction with the world, not only the West, has been instrumental in combating our traditional caste and gender hierarchy, deeply rooted in our society. Modern education, with all its flaws, opened the door of these marginalized sections of society towards the path of equality and justice.
There is an interesting anecdote about the role of colonialism in India. Shashi Tharoor in his famous Oxford debate elaborated the plunder of India by the British (came as a book, Dark Era of British Empire). Few months later Dr Manmohan Singh was in England. He eulogised the role of the British in initiating modern administration and education.
The core point is that this was the pathway which strengthened the foundations of liberal values and brought in modern administration. The liberal values laid the path of freedom movement where people irrespective of their religions participated in it to throw out the British rule.
The RSS-BJP’s focus on “colonialism” and traditional knowledge systems is a new development. Their predecessors prioritised communal issues over anti-colonial struggle. This shift reflects their attempt to re-establish traditional social hierarchy, which was challenged by the freedom struggle and the Indian Constitution.
The “new education policy” reflects this attempt. By opposing Macaulay and Western knowledge systems, they aim to reassert traditional social hierarchy. Civilisations evolve through exchange and synthesis, and embracing this can lead us towards justice and equality.
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Ram Puniyani is an eminent author, activist and a former professor at IIT Mumbai. The views expressed here are author’s personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.
