Lord Macaulay about India

[Guest guest]

It was February, 1835 , a time when the British were striving to

take control of the whole of India. Lord Macaulay, a historian and

a politician, made a historical speech in the British Parliament,

commonly referred to as The Minutes, which struck a blow at the

centuries old system of Indian education. His words were to this

effect: I have travelled across the length and breadth of India

and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief.

Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values,

people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer

this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation,

which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and , therefore, I

propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her

culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and

English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their

self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what

we want them, a truly dominated nation.

 

[Guest guest]

Macaulay made no secret of his intentions. In a famous letter to his father he wrote: “Our English schools are flourishing wonderfully. The effect of this education on the Hindus is prodigious. ...It is my belief that if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolator among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence.

 

And this will be effected without any efforts to proselytise, without the smallest interference with religious liberty, by natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily rejoice in the project.”

 

Macaulay, and British authorities in general, did not stop at this. They recognized that a conquered people are not fully defeated unless their history is destroyed. It is best if this destruction takes place at their own hands: British ‘scholars’ would assist it of course, but ultimately, the Indians themselves should be made to destroy their past.

 

So the plan envisaged cultural suicide rather than cultural genocide. To this end, a new discipline called Indology, and whole new tribe of scholarship called Indologists were created and supported by the British. The most famous of them all was a German by name Friedrich Max Muller who saw the opportunity and made a grand success of it by working for the British according to Macaulay’s plan.

 

The plan was to translate, edit and publish Indian classics—especially the Vedas—in such a manner that it would turn the educated people of India against their history and tradition and make them take pride in being ruled by the British. It was hoped that with this, many would also give up Hinduism and opt for Christianity.

 

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