Sri Lanka and Pakistan are examples of countries linked in the past to India that decided that once the British left, so should the only good they did, which was to ensure that the English language was spoken widely across the Indian subcontinent. Sri Lanka could have become another Singapore, but the country fell under the grip of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, who sought to banish both Tamil and English from Sri Lanka, replacing both with Sinhala.
At that point in time, especially among the Sinhalese population, English was widely spoken. During the regime of the Bandaranaikes, Jayawardene and Premadasa, English remained the preserve of the elite, just as in ancient India, knowledge of Sanskrit was confined to the elites. In fact, it was only when Dara Shukoh translated the ancient Indic epics Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Vedas into Persian that knowledge of these immortal classics became known to a large number of people in what was then the Mughal empire, in which Persian was the court language, just as English became the language of the rulers during the British Raj.
A little under two centuries ago, Thomas Babington Macaulay wanted to teach English to the population of India, believing that such knowledge would create a vast pool of loyal subjects of the British Crown. Instead, knowledge of that language, and fluency in it, made the people of India better learn of several of the happenings in the world, and gave them further impetus to ensure that Bharat ie India was liberated from the colonial yoke after so many hundreds of years of foreign overlordship.
Today, a person of Indian origin, Rishi Sunak, is Prime Minister of the UK, while in the US, the only challenger within the Republican Party still in the fray is Nikki Haley. The Taoiseach of Ireland is Leo Varadkar, while the Vice-President of the US is Kamala Harris, both with Indian roots. A plethora of Bharatiyas (known outside Bharat as Indians) already shine in the politics of the UK and the US, as they soon will in the politics of Australia and New Zealand. In Singapore, the Head of State is the brilliant, witty Tharman Shanmugaratnam, whose ancestors come from Tamil Nadu, a part of India that has been celebrated by Prime Minister Modi for the tapestry of its history.
In Pakistan and India as well, after 1947 governments led by scions of the elite closed the doors to the teaching of English except to their own kind, the elite. Jawaharlal Nehru “was English in all but name”, yet as Prime Minister, he downgraded and in many ways banished the teaching of English in schools affordable to the poor, so much so that several million schoolchildren did not know a word of the international link language. At the same time, he and his successor Indira Gandhi made the getting of passports difficult, so that the US and the UK were filled by Pakistani immigrants in volumes that proportionately were much more than the Indians who could move there.
The East India Company was once the dominant company in India, but today the Tata Group dominates the industrial landscape in the UK, although being from India, they do not have the cruelly selfish instincts of the East India Company, which looted India and ruined its economy. In contrast, the Tatas have given jobs to countless citizens of the UK. Why has Bharat i.e. India taken the lead in Information Technology? Why do Bharatiyas (known outside our country as Indians) so often reach the top positions of the biggest companies in the world? Because they speak better English than most English themselves do.
In the world of computers, English remains essential. Even computer coders in China or Germany need to use English in coding. A time will come within a century when Sanskrit will replace English as the international link language, but until that time, knowledge of English is essential to the objective of India becoming a superpower by 2029. Prime Minister Modi knows this well, as evidenced by some of his most brilliant and capable ministerial colleagues giving lectures at universities, especially in the south, in fluent English. Among them are EAM Jaishankar, FM Sitharaman and Petroleum Minister Hardip Puri. Followers of the “Teach English only to the elites” school of Nehru must follow the example of the Hindi-speaking states, several of whom have introduced English in their school curricula.
Indeed, across the world, those from the Hindi-speaking states are known for their flawless mastery of English. In contrast, Pakistan entered the track of failed states by its military rulers, among other errors, forgetting that knowledge of English is a weapon for advancement. India led by Prime Minister Modi is going the opposite way. Our country will continue to ensure that Bharatiyas are free of language or other chauvinism, and will go across the world to benefit the countries they settle in with their cutting edge talent and humanity.