“In no part of our existence, not even in the deepest corners of our mind or habits should there be any ounce of slavery. It should be nipped there itself. We have to liberate ourselves from the slavery mindset which is visible in innumerable things within and around us,” he had said.
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech last year to the renaming of Rajpath as Kartavya Path, replacing the statue of King George V with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s statue at India gate to renaming some island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands — “removing any trace of colonial mindset” has been a recurring theme of the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The introduction of the three Bills in Lok Sabha on Friday sticks to the script.
On August 15 last year, Modi had announced five pledges (“panch pran”), which included a call for “100 per cent freedom from slavery”. “We have to make India a developed nation in the next 25 years… “He had said, ‘We must pay homage to the colonial mindset by abandoning it.'”
“In no part of our existence, not even in the deepest corners of our mind or habits should there be any ounce of slavery. It should be nipped there itself. We have to liberate ourselves from the slavery mindset which is visible in innumerable things within and around us,” he had said.
“How long will the world continue to give certificates to us? How long will we live on the certificates of the world? Shall we not set our own standards? Can a country of 130 crore not make an effort to exceed its standards,” he had said.
A month later, on September 8, while inaugurating the Kartavya Path, Modi underlined the message: “Kingsway or Rajpath, the symbol of slavery, has become a matter of history from today, has been erased forever. Today, the form of Kartavya Path has created a new history.”
“He had said, ‘Today, we have also installed a huge statue of our national leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose near India Gate. During the time of slavery, there stood a statue of the representative of the British Raj (King George V).'”
“Even on May 28 this year, while inaugurating the new Parliament Building, Modi said, ‘There was a time when India was counted among the most prosperous and splendid nations of the world…'” But hundreds of years of slavery took away this pride from us… New India of 21st century, India full of high spirit, is leaving behind that colonial mindset.”
In its effort to get rid of the “colonial mindset”, the Modi government has made several changes — some conspicuous, and others subtle. The construction of the National War Memorial (NWM) and merger of flames of Amar Jawan Jyoti and NWM;. Renaming of some islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; merger of the Railway Budget with the annual Union Budget; revival of literary works banned during British rule; renaming of roads (including Race Course Road to Lok Kalyan Marg);. Replacing the Finance Minister’s briefcase for the Budget to the “bahi khata”; emphasis on education in the mother tongue are all portrayed as efforts in this direction.
The government also got a new Naval Ensign and introduced some changes in the Beating the Retreat ceremony, including tunes like ‘Hind ki Sena’ and ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ and Indian musical instruments like sitar, santoor and tabla.
In the last eight years, the government has also repealed over 1,500 archaic laws, most of which were remnants of the British era. “Modi had earlier said that in this Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal, we should make new laws by abolishing the laws which have been going on from the time of slavery.”
CREDIT:- THE INDIAN EXPRESS
