The evils introduced by the British education system must be eradicated: PM Modi

Source: The Indian Express

Ramnath Goenka (1904 – 1991) bought the majority stake of  The Indian Express in 1930s and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications. He was known as a crusader against corruption and censorship. 

The Ramnath Goenka Memorial (RNG) Lecture was instituted in 2016 by The Express Group to mark 25 years of the passing of its founder. PM Modi delivered the sixth RNG lecture at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi, on 17th November 2025.

Shri Modi remarked that today we have gathered to honour a distinguished personality who elevated the power of democracy, journalism, expression, and public movements in India. He highlighted that Shri Ramnath Goenka, as a visionary, an institution builder, a nationalist, and a media leader, established the Indian Express Group not merely as a newspaper but as a mission among the people of India. 

Highlighting that Shri Ramnath Goenka drew deep inspiration from a shloka in the Bhagavad Gita, explaining that this teaching—of performing one’s duty with equanimity towards joy and sorrow, gain and loss, victory and defeat—was deeply embedded in Ramnath Ji’s life and work, Shri Modi remarked that Shri Ramnath Goenka upheld this principle throughout his life, placing duty above all else.

During the Emergency, [1975 to 1977] when one of the then Prime Minister’s [Smt. Indira Gandhi] closest ministers summoned and threatened Ramnath Ji with imprisonment, his bold response became part of history’s hidden records. The Prime Minister remarked that while some of these accounts are public and others remain undisclosed, they all reflect Ramnath Ji’s unwavering commitment to truth and his steadfast adherence to duty, regardless of the power he faced.

The Prime Minister further stated that he would speak in detail on the subject of freeing India from the mindset of slavery. He said this requires going back 190 years, even before the First War of Independence in 1857, to the year 1835, when British MP Thomas Babington Macaulay launched a major campaign to uproot India from its cultural foundations. Macaulay had declared his intent to create Indians who would look Indian but think like the British. To achieve this, he did not merely reform India’s education system—he destroyed it entirely. The Prime Minister quoted Mahatma Gandhi, who had said that India’s ancient education system was a beautiful tree that was uprooted and destroyed.

Emphasizing that this was the moment when the seeds were sown for the belief that progress and greatness could only be achieved through foreign methods, Shri Modi said this mindset became even more entrenched after Independence. India’s education, economy, and societal aspirations became increasingly aligned with foreign models. The Prime Minister observed that pride in indigenous systems diminished, and the swadeshi foundation laid by Mahatma Gandhi was largely forgotten. Governance models began to be sought abroad, and innovation was looked for in foreign lands. This mentality, he stated, led to a societal tendency to consider imported ideas, goods, and services as superior.

Remarking that the crime committed by Macaulay against India’s cultural and educational foundations will complete 200 years in 2035, Shri Modi issued a national call to action, urging citizens to take a pledge over the next ten years to liberate themselves from the mindset of slavery that Macaulay instilled. He emphasized that the evils and societal afflictions introduced by Macaulay must be eradicated in the coming decade.

A compilation of excerpts from "PM delivers the sixth Ramnath Goenka Lecture, https://www.pmindia.gov.in

Ref: Wikipedia, Indian Express