Colonial mentality isn’t gone, it is there and is alive and kicking, this time it is the Loreto College, Kolkata
The Abrahamic adherents will never learn. Who do they think they are?
This time is a reputed Christian higher educational institution- Loreto College. In a notification, they denied students from vernacular mediums admission into their college and stated in the same notice that English is the medium of instruction and their college library has nothing but English books.
This is the height of colonial mentality. The British have gone away, but it looks like that they have left remnants behind. Institutions like these are manifestly colonial in the outlook and societal perception.
Colonial Mentality at its Peak
The above controversy shows the pinnacle of the colonial mentality of the institution.
The college was an outcome of Christian evangelical activity which sought to educate the natives in the service of the British Raj.
After independence, their looks to be the same, not an iota has changed.
J Sai Deepak in his bestselling book India, That is Bharat- Coloniality, Civilization and Constitution has done an in-depth research about Christian evangelism.
It highlighted how the British educational content adversely affected Bharatiya educational systems.
It highlighted how the Indians were deracinated from their roots and made to embrace alien values.
The nature of this notification shows that the colonial era mentality of this institution still isn’t over.
Vernacular Education is Highly Essential to Tackle Colonial Mentality
The institution, perhaps, is forgetting the fact that the New National Education Policy,2020 has mandated the teaching of children in the mother tongue at least till class 8.
The message that the institution is sending is that vernacular education, be it Hindi, Bengali, Rajasthani etc is irrelevant to them.
They are, perhaps, forgetting that it is education and socialization in vernacular languages that is the essence of Bharatiyta.
They are forgetting that this institution is in Indian state of West Bengal, which was the one of the bastions of the liberation movement from the British Raj.
This is not England, India, on the other hand is roaring in the world. She is the fifth largest economy in the world, possesses the fourth largest armed forces and is enroute to becoming a superpower.
Conclusion
It is imperative that the institution immediately revokes this notice, give admission to the students who were wronged and issue a public apology to the country that they will do no such thing in the future.
Otherwise, we Indians, know very well how to tackle this Christian supremacism and colonial mentality.