Shashi Tharoor praises PM Modi's address, says it focused on overturning Macaulay's 200-year "slave mentality" legacy

New Delhi [India], November 18 (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday highlighted that a significant part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ramnath Goenka Lecture focused on overturning Macaulay's 200-year legacy of a "slave mentality" and restoring pride in India's heritage, languages, and knowledge systems.
Tharoor said the PM highlighted India's "constructive impatience" for development, promoted a post-colonial mindset, and described the country as an "emerging model" for the world, focusing on economic resilience and people-centric governance.

Attended PM @narendramodi’s #RamnathGoenkaLecture at the invitation of @IndianExpress last night. He spoke of India's "constructive impatience" for development and strongly pushed for a post-colonial mindset.

The PM emphasized that India is no longer just an 'emerging market'… pic.twitter.com/97HwGgQ67N

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 18, 2025

In a post on X, Shashi Tharoor wrote, "Attended PM @narendramodi's Ramnath Goenka Lecture at the invitation of @IndianExpress last night. He spoke of India's 'constructive impatience' for development and strongly pushed for a post-colonial mindset. The PM emphasized that India is no longer just an 'emerging market' but an 'emerging model' for the world, noting its economic resilience. PM Modi said he'd been accused of being in "election mode" all the time, but he was really in "emotional mode" to redress the problems of the people."
"A significant part of the speech was dedicated to overturning Macaulay's 200-year legacy of "slave mentality." PM Modi appealed for a 10-year national mission to restore pride in India's heritage, languages, and knowledge systems. I wish he had also acknowledged how Ramnath Goenka had used English to raise a voice for Indian nationalism! On the whole, the PM's address served as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action, urging the nation to be restless for progress. Glad to have been in the audience despite battling a bad cold and cough!" the post read.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India's education, economy, and societal aspirations became increasingly aligned with foreign models under the influence of the British and emphasised the need to free society from any mindset of slavery.
Delivering the sixth Ramnath Goenka Lecture organised by The Indian Express in New Delhi here today, PM Modi said his government is not opposed to the English language, but firmly supports Indian languages.
Noting that Ramnath Goenka was often described as being impatient -- not in a negative sense, but in a positive one - PM Modi highlighted that it was the kind of impatience that drives the highest levels of effort for change, the kind that stirs still waters into motion.
The Prime Minister drew a parallel, stating "today's India too is impatient--impatient to become developed, impatient to become self-reliant". He observed that the first twenty-five years of the 21st century had passed swiftly, bringing one challenge after another, yet none could halt India's momentum.
Noting that global challenges have marked the past four to five years, the Prime Minister said that in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies worldwide, creating widespread uncertainty. The global supply chain was severely impacted, and the world began to drift towards despair. As conditions began to stabilise, turmoil emerged in neighbouring countries. Amid these crises, India's economy demonstrated resilience, achieving a high growth rate. (ANI)