Macaulay’s intervention led to a colonial mentality in several sections of India. But because of English language, it also led to a lot of unintended consequences.
It is not often noted, but in the North, Bihar is the only state where the BJP has not come to power on its own. The party's desire to turn Bihar into UP should not be ignored.
Most observers say that the degree of polarisation in the US today is much greater than in the '60s, with the political elite so deeply divided that bridges may be harder to build.
Even with the option of EU markets, China will have to be a significant part of India’s economic policy. But the difficult security relationship is an important complication.
Unless dramatic reversals take place, the core of India’s foreign policy, which, at least since 2000, has focused on the US, Pakistan, China, and Russia, stands on the verge of collapse.
Tariffs have been used in the past by countries like Japan and South, to promote or hinder industrialisation. The surprise in Trump’s tariff argument is two-fold.
Disenfranchisement by institutional fiat is profoundly undemocratic. The effect of the ECI's new documentary process in Bihar will tilt the scales in favour of the BJP.
Young boys who should be sweating about schoolwork are learning how to corner women. Are we now supposed to add children to the list of people we need to protect ourselves from?
Armenia has procured significant defence equipment from India, including artillery guns, multi-barrel rocket launchers, air defence system, sniper rifles, weapons locating radars, anti-drone weapons.
The key to fighting a war successfully, or even launching it, is a clear objective. That’s an entirely political call. It isn’t emotional or purely military.
We would not have got the sciences and engineering without exposure to western education. Modi is as usual selling his propaganda based on half truths.
Promoting Hindi or Bharatiya languages over English alone won’t suffice.
What we must do is reintroduce Bharatiya education.
IKS is a welcome step but actually a reinforcement of the same ‘captive mindset’, for we teach everything by default still with the western paradigms, and IKS as a separate subject.
It should be the other way around, IKS should be the default in every discipline, and WKS (Western Knowledge Systems) an additional subject for global exposure.
Also while we are at it, it felt sad to hear the key ideas expressed with a dash of Urdu (ghulami, azadi, etc.), as if a last desperate attempt to get those on board who we know were never and will never be on board with Bharat and Bharatiyata unless it is diluted with qaumiyat.
Disappointing to see the author conflate learning English as a language (which should never be a problem… Speaking for myself, that honour should only be reserved for the قومی زبان which promises none of the benefits and all of the brainwashing) and English as the medium of instruction.
Learning the language opens up all the claimed benefits. Replacing the medium creates an entry barrier that stops the vast majority of people from success, turning language into the new caste.
Also it should be borne in mind that teaching, for instance, the sciences and the social sciences in English = Smuggling in Eurocentric paradigms, frameworks, and philosophy. Once again, not intrinsically a bad idea to study how different parts of the world think, but problematic when taught as the only truth, almost like an exclusivist religion.
All I would say is
आङ्ग्लभाषायाः अध्ययनं न समस्या, आङ्ग्लभाषायां चिन्तनमेव समस्या।
We would not have got the sciences and engineering without exposure to western education. Modi is as usual selling his propaganda based on half truths.
Promoting Hindi or Bharatiya languages over English alone won’t suffice.
What we must do is reintroduce Bharatiya education.
IKS is a welcome step but actually a reinforcement of the same ‘captive mindset’, for we teach everything by default still with the western paradigms, and IKS as a separate subject.
It should be the other way around, IKS should be the default in every discipline, and WKS (Western Knowledge Systems) an additional subject for global exposure.
Also while we are at it, it felt sad to hear the key ideas expressed with a dash of Urdu (ghulami, azadi, etc.), as if a last desperate attempt to get those on board who we know were never and will never be on board with Bharat and Bharatiyata unless it is diluted with qaumiyat.
Disappointing to see the author conflate learning English as a language (which should never be a problem… Speaking for myself, that honour should only be reserved for the قومی زبان which promises none of the benefits and all of the brainwashing) and English as the medium of instruction.
Learning the language opens up all the claimed benefits. Replacing the medium creates an entry barrier that stops the vast majority of people from success, turning language into the new caste.
Also it should be borne in mind that teaching, for instance, the sciences and the social sciences in English = Smuggling in Eurocentric paradigms, frameworks, and philosophy. Once again, not intrinsically a bad idea to study how different parts of the world think, but problematic when taught as the only truth, almost like an exclusivist religion.