Poonam Sharma
Secularism or Selective Amnesia? How Colonial Hangovers Are Uprooting Bharat’s Civilisation
The best example of political bias is not always found in Parliament or television studios. Often, it quietly shapes young minds inside classrooms. A nation that once carried a civilisational memory spanning thousands of years is today raising children who know more about Western holidays than their own festivals, more about European philosophers than Indian sages, and more about colonial history than the soul of Bharat itself. In the name of “secularism” and “modern education,” something deeply ironic is unfolding—westernisation is being passed off as neutrality, while Bharatiya civilisation is pushed into silence.
One must ask an uncomfortable but necessary question: How can a person claim to free others from a slavery mentality when they themselves are unable to free their mind from colonial hangovers?
The Classroom: Where Political Bias Begins Quietly
In today’s India, secularism has quietly transformed from equal respect for all faiths into selective blindness toward one’s own roots. In many elite schools—run by Bharatiyas themselves as well as by missionary institutions—there is a visible hesitation to speak about Lord Ram, Krishna, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, or the philosophical depth of Sanatan thought. These are not merely religious figures or texts; they are civilisational pillars that shaped ethics, governance, family structures, and the idea of dharma. Yet mentioning them is often seen as “communal” or “regressive.”
Ironically, the same hesitation does not exist when it comes to celebrating Christmas, Easter, or teaching Biblical stories under the banner of “moral science.” Convent schools openly promote Christian theology, prayers, and values, which is their right. But why is the same space denied to Bharatiya civilisational narratives in schools that claim to be secular? Why is Ram a controversy while Western religious symbolism is treated as culture?
This selective secularism is not accidental—it is inherited.
Colonial rule did not just loot India’s wealth; it also colonised Indian minds. The British education system was never designed to empower Bharat; it was meant to produce clerks, obedient subjects, and culturally disconnected elites. Sadly, decades after independence, the structure remains largely unchanged. English language dominance, Western frameworks of “progress,” and the systematic sidelining of indigenous knowledge systems continue unabated.
We are told that development must be colourful, global, and Western in appearance. But history offers a sobering reminder. If material prosperity alone could save a civilisation, the Roman Empire would never have collapsed. Rome was rich, expansive, and technologically advanced for its time. Yet it fell—not because it lacked wealth, but because its rulers lost moral strength, civilisational confidence, and internal unity. Corruption, cultural decay, and ideological confusion weakened it from within.
Civilisational Confidence: The Only Way Forward
Civilisations do not fall from external attacks alone; they rot internally when they forget who they are.
Today, Bharat risks a similar erosion—not through invasion, but through indifference. When children are taught to view their own culture as backward while idolising Western lifestyles as superior, a psychological disconnect is created. This is not globalisation; it is self-erasure.
There is a growing fatigue among ordinary people—tired of watching secular dramas where neutrality exists only on paper. Tired of being told that saffron represents danger while colonial symbols represent sophistication. Tired of seeing a nation apologise for its own identity.
Let it be said clearly: embracing Bharatiya civilisation does not mean rejecting others. It means standing on one’s own roots while engaging with the world confidently, without shame, fear, or inferiority.
