Macaulay's Truth
There are some negative narratives about Thomas Babington Macaulay being circulated on the internet. He is being blamed for introducing a system of education with the intention to ruin our cultural identity. I have, by chance, hit upon his indirect partial exoneration by a well respected Indian leader about 50 years after Macaulay made his recommendations in 1835.
Some time ago I happened to have seen a reference to a book by Dadabhai Naoroji (DN). It is titled 'Poverty of India'. This raised my curiosity. I found the book. Published in 1878, it is a compilation of three papers he read before the Bombay Branch of the East India Association in February, April and July, 1876. The book is a scholarly one. It is hard to read and understand because it is full of details providing economic data about how the British rule was causing poverty in India. It has 79 pages. The last page is the one pertaining to this post. There, he has written:
"Then will Macaulay's words be verified to the glory of England, as also to her benefit:-
"We shall never consent to administer the pousta* to a whole community, to stupify** and paralyse*** a great people (emphasis added) whom God has committed to our charge;" and we shall not "keep a hundred millions (two hundred millions), of men from being our customers, in order that they might continue to be our slaves."
This quotation by such a patriotic person as DN seems to present Macaulay as a well wisher of Indian people. I tried to explore further.
Was it the same much maligned Thomas Babington Macaulay or some other? I could not find any other Macaulay who could have written these quotes. Nor could I find the source from which DN had taken the first part of his quotation.
However I did find the text of the Minute on Indian Education he had presented in 1835 to Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General.
"He supported the replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the use of English as the medium of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers. On the flip side, this led to Macaulayism in India, and the systematic wiping out of traditional and ancient Indian education and vocational systems and sciences." (From Wikipedia)
Upon careful reading of the 'Minute' it can be seen that he did not have ulterior motives in introducing a different system of education than the prevailing one.
I also found an article that refutes the hateful comments against Macaulay http://www.thesundayposts.com/2008/01/lord-macaulays-quote-on-india.html.
It led me to https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1833macaulay-india.asp It contains the second part of DN's quotation cited above.
Of interest is also https://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-prasad271004.htm
There is a more detailed discussion about Macaulay's approach at the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Education_Act_1835#Macaulay's_%22Minute_Upon_Indian_Education%22
One more article in favor of Macaulay is at: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-macaulay-we-dont-know-ipc-macaulay-indian-penal-code-law-commission-4831988/
It is interesting to note that the great Gujarati poet Narmad, born in 1833 was a high school student at Surat in the late 1840s. In his autobiography he has mentioned Geography, Algebra, Geometry and Accounting as some of the subjects he was taught in high school. He went to college in 1850. There he learned Accounting, Mathematics, Trigonometry, Chemistry, Political Economy, Logic etc. These useful productive subjects are not harmful to any culture. They did not make him less patriotic than any other Indian. It can be seen that even during the reign of the East India Company, good education, not likely to hurt our culture, was being provided to Indian students.
I think we should stop blaming Macaulay for our shortcomings. What do you think?
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* poustais an Greeko-Italian word for bad-tasting unhealthy food.
** same as stupefy.
*** same as paralyze.
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Comment by Dr. Bhanuprasad A. Parikh, M.A., Ph.D., Retired Vice Chancellor, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat, India:
People abusing Macaulay for introducing Education System are either ignorant, or suffering from wrong notions of patriotism or do not understand what education is and what it means.
Macaulay was a very learned man and also a great literary writer. When I was in B.A. class in 1950-51 Macaulay's book on Warren Hastings was one which I studied in my course of English subject.
Macaulay brought his famous resolution in 1834. Even after more than 100 years after Macaulay in 1947 the literacy rate in India was 14 percent. and if Macaulay had not introduced Educational system the literacy rate would have been less than 5 P,C. and I cannot imagine where we would have been without Macaulay. Who would have ventured to start education system None. Because the right to study was the right of only some Brahmins in those days. Whatever may be the motive of Macaulay but at least there rose the awareness for study, learning. We all are the products of this system and not at all lesser than anybody in the world.
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