By Aristotle Lyngdoh
The divide and rule policy that the British employed had a long and lasting impact on Indian society even today. Consequently, we who are born after colonial imperialism had ended, had to bear the brunt of this divisive tactic. The gap between Hindus and Muslims has not subsided even after eight decades of achieving independence. Of late, this divisive campaign has shifted its focus to the Christian community. In many parts of the country hooliganism against the Christian communities and churches is becoming more pervasive and inhuman. The disgraceful act against a Christian pastor in Odisha where he was forced to eat cow dung is unacceptable in any civilized society. Such shameless acts should not have happened in this nation unless there are forces behind who try to impose their ideologies and philosophy on others. In another incident, bigotry has claimed the life of an innocent student from Tripura.
Those who committed these atrocities consider themselves as heroes but in fact exhibit the state and mentality of foolishness. The breach against personal liberty is at large. Who will be the next victim is unpredictable, so where is the constitutional hope of fraternity among Indians if these atrocities still prevail. In the strictest sense, do we still need to educate people about the privileges guaranteed in the Constitution such as liberty of faith and expression in addition to equality of status and opportunity. And this has been clearly mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution too. So why does this fundamental goal of the Constitution remain a challenging task for minority groups is something we should ponder.
The spirit of colonialism and imperialism
Following the partition in 1947, Pakistan continued to rule and dominate Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) for almost 24 years which ultimately led to its liberation in 1971. The recent crisis in Bangladesh is no doubt an attempt to ignite the religious sentiments and rejuvenate the spirit of religious imperialism on a larger scale. Within India for instance, the creation of the state of Meghalaya in 1972 was a result of linguistic imperialism by the then Assam government. At the global level big nations are flexing their muscles on their neighbors to exert power and command more influence. This shows how desperate the imperialistic spirit is and how it is trying to influence and motivate those who managed to obtain power even if they believe in democracy. We cannot also forget how the Covid-19 pandemic has made every administration in the world to experience and taste the joy of acquiring absolute control and these are not encouraging events.
The colonial mindset of education
Education is a catalyst that changes the mindset of a person. During the colonial era education was primarily an effort to teach Indian people the English language in order to raise administrative clerks to serve and assist the colonial officials. It is purely for administrative requirements and people too are content because their employment is assured. People left agriculture and other traditional occupations to enrol in the colonial service because of better incentives. Gradually, the system produced dependents and an elite class who were Indian by blood but English in taste, style and mentality. These people were the luckiest and thought of themselves as having a better status compared to those who served under other local regimes. In this way the colonial rulers could exercise full control and authority over the majority of Indians through the Indian people.
This same mentality is also common today, particularly in states like ours where industrial growth is relatively low and dependency of employment is only on government establishments and projects. This is so because over the years the education system has been structured in such a way that learners are fit for institutional occupation only. If one looks at the statistics available in the website of MBOSE, in 2023 the number of students who cleared the 10th exam (SSLC) number only 26,629. These same candidates appeared for the 12th exam (HSSLC) in 2025 and those who passed out are 18,736 in the Arts Stream, 3253 in Science Stream, 2033 in Commerce Stream and the rest in vocational streams. The trend is almost the same every year unless there is a paradigm shift. These data reflect what type and nature of occupation these youngsters will seek to make ends meet. Those who can afford will pursue higher studies but finally end up in clerical and teaching jobs. What is more concerning is the fate of those from the rural areas whose parents perhaps are farmers or vegetable growers. What will be the fate of our local food industry and security if the upcoming generation do not actively engage and explore the scope in agriculture and allied activities?
In fact, we should learn a great lesson from other communities such as the Gujaratis who prefer entrepreneurship over salaried jobs. For them ‘naukri’ or service is not an ideal status, such mindsets has revolutionised and created a high rate of business ownership by local people of the community and employed people from other states too. Here it seems that the concept of critical learning has not effectively addressed the community needs for robust economic development. Education system on the other hand is to create a shift from dependency to self-reliant individuals equipped for any challenges and problems.
Governance through the East India Company
The East India Company was set up by the Royal Charter in 1600 to do business in India to enrich the British shareholders. Eventually it became the machine that heavily exploited the wealth and resources in their colonies and controlled the colonial government extensively. The nexus between the two cannot be separated, and this is true for every country on the planet today. Politicians and businessmen are the two sides of the same coin and most of the politicians are also privileged shareholders of major business houses. In this way influential business houses dominate every business in the nation and not only that, they will influence the economic and fiscal policy of the state and nation. Gone are the days where the economists played a prominent role in shaping the policy of the state. Today, industrialists and tycoons decide what the economic reforms should be. The first-generation leaders of both post-independence and post-hill state movements were purely nationalists and development-oriented personalities, unlike their successors who are more guided by their personal benefits.
This year, the nation will commemorate the 77th year of adoption of the Indian Constitution. Preparation is in full swing to showcase military achievements and strengths. However, on the other side, racism and religious intolerance still pose a serious threat and concern, therefore, we cannot overlook this susceptibility. Even though Independence Day and Republic Day are monotonous events, yet they serve as reminders for every generation about the cause and purpose that our late leaders and founders have fought for and redeemed on our behalf. And the idea of self-determination and self-governance was the ultimate goal of their struggle to liberate the people from the colonial mindset of dominance and suppression. Because of this, we are extremely grateful to our founding fathers who had envisioned such a pluralistic and people-centric Constitution.
