Varanasi

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said language is central to breaking free from the “Macaulay mindset,” referring to the colonial-era policies that promoted an anglicised elite in India.

Speaking at the launch of Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0 in Varanasi, Pradhan said India must overcome the psychological legacy of 19th-century colonial education. “Macaulay used language as a negative weapon. After 190 years, we must move beyond this dependency on English,” he said, stressing the need for innovation in one’s mother tongue.

The minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly urged the country to shed the “mentality of slavery,” most recently during a November 25 address in Ayodhya. Modi had argued that India is “the mother of democracy,” citing ancient Tamil inscriptions, and said colonial distortions even affected national symbols, prompting the redesign of the Navy flag.

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Pradhan said the next decade should be focused on discarding colonial-era inferiority and strengthening cultural confidence.