لارڈ میکالے کی تجویز نقل کی تھی جس پر چند قارئین نے اعتراض کیا تھا ۔ بزرگ کہتے تھے “اللہ مہربان سو کُل مہربان”۔ میرا سب سے بڑا لالچ سچائی کا حصول رہا ہے اور جب کبھی مجھے مشکل پیش آئی اللہ سبحانُہُ و تعالٰی نے میری مدد فرمائی ۔ اسی سلسلے میں 23 مئی کو ایک خط ڈان اخبار میں شائع ہوا جو اگرچہ مختلف تحریر ہے مگر میرے مؤقف کی تائید کرتی ہے ۔ متعلقہ اقتباس ۔ ۔ ۔ Macaulay’s children
The term Macaulay’s children is used to refer to people born of Indian ancestry who adopt western culture as a lifestyle, or display attitudes influenced by colonisers. Connotation of the term shows the specific behaviour of disloyalty to one’s country and one’s heritage. The passage to which the caption refers is taken from a minute Lord Macaulay wrote on Indian education. It reads:
“It is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population.”
Should we mug up our state of affairs right from the independence, we find we have been governed till date by the class of people trained in accordance with the desired standards set out by the Macaulay theory.
Would the system that derives strength from the Macaulay doctrine bring any change in our lives? Civil society must strive hard and support those who are eligible to lead the masses. It appears that future is not so gloomy and we can see light at the end of the tunnel in the present struggle spearheaded by the chief justice. But we need hundreds of people like him who could guide the people to shun self-interest and be brave.
There are too many aspects of this subject and I can only limit here to very brief comment.
“Macaulay doctrine” was primarily for their ‘good governance’to make it easier for them, but ‘side-effects’ were some benefits for us Indians, no doubt, such as access to knowledge and advanced sciences, somebody mentioned Railways, there may be more benefits. That should notlead ‘us’ to think ‘they’ were helping ‘us’, improving our lot. For them it was ‘colonialism’ and it still is going on without a break (America has taken over that role)
The inferiority felt by ‘us’ leads some to think ‘we’ are inferior in intellect also. That is the most unfortunate part of ‘inferiority’ complex.
Ajmal bhai, I suspect, your point is seen clearly by all but it is shadowed by those feelings. Yes I would give credit to the West’s adavnces in sciences but many Muslims forget they were in that position up until the 15th century (starting from 8th).They never shied off from giving credit to others. They, for instance called it “Unani tibb” giving the Greeks credit. Did the West ever mention Islamic medicine? Or Greco-Islamic sciences? What I hear is Greco-Roman or even Greco-Latin (Eliminating the Islamic altogether) sciences (I am quoting from a Muslim’s study)
We still cary the ‘ghulamana Zehniat with us and new generation has not been able to get rid of it yet. ‘West’ ya angrez apnay liyay hushiar hain. We need to get back in the saddle again and we can. I have some first hand experiences I want to share (See my upcoming ‘Sunday Journal’ in my blog)
Our own civilization is equally good, In some aspects our tehzeeb is better and we need to teach that to the West now as the communications are open and we all have yanked off the colonial Zanjeer.
Sorry my computer’s gone for repair and this one doesn’t have any Urdu support.
The statement you have quoted in your post was actually part of the web page which I linked to in your previous post about Lord Macaulay.
بھائی وہاج احمد
آپ نے ٹھیک کہا ۔ بات کچھ ایسی ہی ہے
زکریا بیٹے
میں نے اُس کا حوالہ اسلئے نہیں دیا تھا کہ اتنا لمبا کسی نے پڑھنا نہیں تھا ۔