English Education and Enslavement
Gandhi ji believed that English education had totally enslaved the Indians. This was due to the following reasons:
- The education system that Mahatma Gandhi advocated for would aid Indians in regaining their sense of dignity and respect for themselves.
- According to Mahatma Gandhi, colonial education instilled a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.
- Gandhi claimed that Western education undermined Indians’ pride in their own culture and fostered a sense of superiority towards the Western way of life.
- Mahatma Gandhi claimed that colonial education subjugated Indians, placed an ill spell on them, was wicked, and contained poison.
- Indians educated in colonial institutions began showing an increasing level of affection for British rule.
- Gandhi advised the students to abandon educational institutions during the national struggle in order to demonstrate to the British that Indians were no longer ready to be held as slaves.
- Mahatma Gandhi was certain that Indian languages must be used as the educational medium.
- Gandhi believed that receiving an education in English rendered Indians helpless and caused them to become outsiders in their own countries and social environments.
Why did Mahatma Gandhi Think that English Education had Enslaved Indians?
Mahatma Gandhi had a perception that English education has enslaved Indians as colonial education created a certain sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians and made them see western civilization as a superior civilization and destroyed their confidence in their own culture.
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