Macaulay legacy in India
Context:
M Modi’s recent criticism of the “Macaulay mindset” and colonial hangover. Shashi Tharoor argues that English is no longer just a colonial legacy, but an Indian language that India now “speaks to itself.” The debate is connected to nationalism, education reforms (NEP), decolonisation, and linguistic identity.
Macaulay Mindset:
- Advocated creating a class of Indians “English in tastes, opinions, morals, and intellect.”
- Promoted English and dismissed Indian knowledge systems.
- Aimed to create intermediaries for the British administration.
- PM Modi’s argument:
- India must reject colonial mental chains and restore civilizational confidence.
- Tharoor’s counter-point:
- India has already appropriated English; it is no longer a foreign tool of domination.
THAROOR’S CENTRAL ARGUMENTS:
- Irony in attacking Macaulay now:
- English was meant to be an elitist tool.
- Macaulay did not envision English becoming a mass language in India.
- But Indians democratised it: rickshaw-pullers, migrant workers, domestic workers, and lower-middle class parents demand English education for upward mobility.
- India increasingly uses English for self-communication:
- India no longer uses English just to talk to the world, but also to itself.
- English is the language of:
- courts and contracts
- science and technology
- business
- higher education
- competitive exams
- media
- internal policy discourse
- English is now an Indian language, not a colonial imposition
- Nations like China, Japan, South Korea retained cultural confidence while embracing modernity.
- India’s problem was not English but the pedestal English was placed on.
- NEP rightly wants Indian languages to flourish but without discarding English.
- English enables access to global knowledge:
- Indian students would be handicapped without English access to science, philosophy, literature.
- English allows India to “unlock important doors” domestically and globally.
➡️ Teach Kalidasa + Shakespeare,
➡️ Ramayana + Bible,
➡️ Upanishads + Plato,
➡️ Laila-Majnu + Sufi thinkers + Bhakti movement.
Balanced civilizational education, not cultural isolation.
Reality:
- India’s economy needs English.
- India’s global ambition needs English.
- Students and parents WANT English.
Thus, anti-English speeches do not match societal aspirations.
Solution:
- Adopt multilingualism, not English abolition
- Keep English + strengthen Indian languages
- Increase mother-tongue education WITHOUT reducing English exposure
- NEP’s direction is correct but must be implemented realistically.
- Cultural confidence must be rooted in knowledge of:
- Indian texts
- Indian philosophies
- Western and global knowledge too
- Use English as a tool, not a marker of superiority
- Dethrone English from privilege, not from usefulness.