New Delhi: A “colonial mindset” among a section of people is a barrier against a developed Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. No nation can move forward without self-confidence, he pointed out, while addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
“Unfortunately, long years of colonial rule shook this very confidence in India. The reason for this was a deep colonial mindset. This colonial mentality has become a major barrier in achieving the goals of a developed Bharat. That is why today’s India is working to free itself from this mindset,” he said, as reported by ANI.
While highlighting that India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world today and is being described as a global growth engine, the Prime Minister said that use of the term “Hindu rate of growth” for India’s low growth rate from 1950s to 1980s reflected mentality of slavery and an attempt to portray an entire society as unproductive.
He hit out at opposition parties and blasted “so-called intellectuals who search for communalism in everything”, asking if they did not see communalism in the expression “Hindu rate of growth” which was then found a place in books and research papers.
“Such was the impact of this colonial mentality that even today, when many around the world describe India as a global growth engine, how often do you hear anyone speak proudly about this rapid growth? Has anyone ever referred to it as the Hindu rate of growth? The term Hindu rate of growth was used at a time when India struggled even to reach a growth rate of two to three per cent. Linking a country’s economic performance to the faith of its people was no coincidence,” PM Modi said.
“Do you think linking a country’s economic growth to the faith and identity of its people happened by accident? No, it was a reflection of a slave mentality. An entire society, an entire tradition, was made synonymous with unproductiveness and poverty. An attempt was made to prove that our Hindu civilization and Hindu culture were the cause of India’s slow growth rate. And just imagine, the so-called intellectuals who today are constantly looking for communalism in everything, every aspect, did not see communalism in the Hindu rate of growth. This term was included in books and research papers during their time,” he added.
The term ‘Hindu rate of growth’ has been used in some writings to describe low Indian economic growth rates from the 1950s to the 1980s, which averaged around 4 per cent.
According to him, it was this mindset that devastated India’s manufacturing ecosystem and explained how the nation is reviving it. He pointed out that even during the colonial period India was a major producer of arms and ammunition, with a strong network of ordnance factories. India exported weapons that were widely used in the world wars.
After Independence, the defense manufacturing ecosystem was destroyed, as the colonial mindset led those in government to undervalue weapons made in India, turning the country into one of the world’s largest defense importers, he said.
This is not merely about the return of assets but about trust, it is about the commitment to continuously earn the trust of the people, PM Modi said, adding that the trust of the people is the nation’s true capital, and such campaigns could never have been possible under colonial mindset.
“The nation must be completely freed from the colonial mindset in every sphere,” he said, highlighting that just a few days ago he made an appeal to the country, urging everyone to work with a ten-year time frame. He noted that Macaulay’s policy sowed the seeds of mental slavery in India about 190 years back. The Prime Minister emphasised that in the next ten years, all citizens must ensure that the country is liberated from the colonial mindset.
“India is not a nation that simply follows a set path, and for a better tomorrow it must expand its horizons,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi emphasized the need to understand the future requirements of the country and find solutions in the present. This is why he often speaks about the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat campaigns, he said, noting that if such initiatives had begun four to five decades earlier, India’s situation today would have been very different.
He claimed that a company had come forward to set up a semiconductor plant in India, five or six decades ago, but was not given due attention, resulting in the country falling behind in this sector.
The same mentality affected the shipbuilding industry, which for centuries had been a major center in India, he said.
The Prime Minister recalled that even five to six decades ago, forty per cent of India’s trade was carried on Indian ships, but the colonial mindset gave preference to foreign ships. He remarked that the result is evident, as a nation once known for maritime strength became dependent on foreign ships for ninety-five per cent of its trade, leading India to pay nearly USD 75 billion, or about six lakh crore rupees, annually to foreign shipping companies today.
“Whether it is shipbuilding or defence manufacturing, today every sector is striving to leave behind the colonial mindset and achieve new glory”, the Prime Minister said.
