Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches/Speech at Gujrat Educational Conference
GUJARAT EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE
[The second Gujarat Educational Conference was held at Broach, in October 20, 1917, when Mr. M. K. Gandhi read his presidential address in Gujarati a translation of which reads as under]:—
After thanking the conference for the honour bestowed on him he said the selection fell on him simply because he would yield to none in his love and devotion for the Gujarati language. He then congratulated the last conference on the good work done by them and for publishing a very valuable report in time. He then highly regretted the premature loss of Mr. Ranjitram Vavabhai, one of the most active secretaries of the conference. Recapitulating the three objects of the Gujarat Kalavani Mandal under whose auspices the conference was held, he proceeded to treat them in detail.
MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION
He regarded the question of the medium of instruction of the highest importance and as one on which the whole edifice of education rested. He referred to the two views held on this question. There is one party that wants the mother tongue Gujarati to be the medium. The other party supports English. 'Both are prompted by pure motives. Both have the good of the country at heart but purity of motives alone is not sufficient for the achievement of the desired end. Experience of the world shows that often a pure motive lands us on impure ground. Let us therefore examine the merits or otherwise of the two views and see if we can arrive at unanimity on this point. This difficult question concerns the whole of India. But that does not mean that each province cannot solve it for itself, but must wait for general unanimity.'
Of course, it would help us to some degree in the solution of this problem if we review the agitation and efforts of other provinces. Bengal during the excitement of the 'partition' days tried to impart instruction in Bengali. Schools were established, funds poured in but the experiment failed. In my humble opinion it failed, because the organisers and teachers had not sufficient faith in their own experiment. The educated Bengali could not get out of the fascination of the English language. It was suggested that Bengali literature owes its development to the command the Bengalis have over the English language. In answer Mr. Gandhi instanced the wonderful Bengali of Sir Rabindranath Tagore which is in no way indebted to his knowledge of English. He owes inspiration to the very atmosphere of India. He has imbibed it from the Upanishads. The same can be said of Mahatma Munshi Ram and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. The service which Swami Dayanand Sarasvati rendered to Hindi literature owed nothing to English. Tukaram and Ramdas who have enriched the Marathi language were not ia the least under the obligation of the English language. English cannot claim any credit for the contribution to Gujarati literature of poets from Parmanand and Samel Bhat down to Dalpatram. When we consider how languages grow, we come to the conclusion that a language is but the reflection of the character of the people that speak it. Language depends upon the peculiar genius and occupation of a people. The inordinate use of polished and courtly forms of speech indicate that we have been under subjection for generations together. The English language abounds in nautical terms. We cannot import them in the Gujarati language, but if we take to navigation nautical phraseology will frame of itself.
Mr. Gandhi then proceeded to give a quotation from Rev. Taylor's grammar of the Gujarati language in support of the above.
He then referred to the laudable efforts of the Arya Samaj in making Hindi the medium of instruction in their Gurukul; and of the Telugu people in using Telugu as the vehicle of education. In Maharastra Professor Karve and Prof. Naick both work in the same direction. In Professor Bijapurkar's school they had already prepared suitable text-books in Marathi. They are all hopeful about the success of their work. In Gujarat there was a movement already for imparting instruction through Gujarati. Prof. Gajjar and the late Dewan Bahadur Manibhai Jarbhai may be regarded as the pioneers and it now remains with us to consider whether we shall water the plant sown by them or allow it to wither away.
Experienced teachers say that what takes sixteen years to learn through English can perfectly be acquired in ten years at the most through the vernaculars. If thousands of our students save six years each of their precious life, what a great national saving it would be.
The excessive burden of having to learn through a foreign medium has sapped the strength, enthusiasm and vitality of our young men. Sickly and pale they can at best be mere imitators. All power of initiative, originality and enterprise; courage, discrimination and fearlessness dwindle away as years pass by. What they commence they cannot carry out. The few that show some spirit die young. The negroes of South Africa are a stalwart and sober race. Social evils like child-marriage are unknown amongst them but they too have suffered like ourselves because they accepted Dutch as the medium of their education. They have grown impotent imitators of the west. With the loss of their mother tongue they lost all vigour and originality. We who have received English education cannot measure the loss we have sustained. If we consider what little hold we have upon our masses we can have some idea of that loss. We are proud of a Bose or a Ray amongst us but I daresay that had we received instruction through the vernacular for the last fifty years we would have had amongst us so many Boses and Rays that their existence would not have been a matter of surprise to us.
Leaving aside the question whether Japan's activities are in the right direction or not we can say that the extraordinary enterprise and progressive life they have shown is due to their education being given in Japanese. Their education has infused a new life among the people which has been a wonder to the gaping world. Instruction through a foreign medium brings about untold evils.
There must be a correspondence between the impressions and expressions we receive with our mother's milk and the education we receive at school. A foreign medium destroys the correspondence, and whosoever helps this destruction, however pure his motives, is an enemy of his country. The evil does not stop here. The foreign medium has created an unnatural gulf between the educated classes and the masses at large. We do not understand the masses and the masses do not understand us. They regard us as foreigners and they fear and distrust us. If this state of things continues for long, Lord Curzon's charge that we do not represent the masses will some day prove to be true. Fortunately the educated classes have gradually come to realise the difficulty of reaching the masses. They see now that they have over reached the expectations of Lord Macaulay. We took to English because it led to the acquisition of wealth, and some cultivated the ideas of nationalism through English.
If we were in power we could see the danger of the spread of English at the cost of the vernacular. Even the Government officers have not dispensed with the vernaculars. In offices and law courts they still use the vernaculars. If pleaders conducted their cases in the vernaculars, the clients would gain a great deal, and the language would be enriched.
It is argued that only the English knowing Indians have evinced patriotism. Recent events prove otherwise, but even accepting the assertion we can say that others had no opportunity whatsoever. The patriotism of the English educated has not spread amongst the masses. English may be kept as an optional subject for those who want to study it for political purposes or for the acquisition of wealth by the help of western sciences. Not only should they acquire a good command over the English language but it is also our duty to make facilities for imparting such education.
Before closing this topic he referred to the two pamphlets published by Dr. P. J, Mehta and recommended the audience to peruse them. He then suggested a number of ways and means for preparing a ground for making Gujarati as the medium of instruction such as the use of Gujarati language only in mutual intercourse among the Gujaratis, preparation of Gujarati text-books, opening schools etc.
NATIONAL LANGUAGE
After dealing with the medium of instruction he dwelt at length upon the subject of National language. He gave an able reply to those who suggest that English ought to become the lingua franca of India. He said a National language should satisfy the following five conditions:—
(1) It must be easy for the official.
(2) It must be the vehicle of religious, social and political intercourse of the people.
(3) It must be spoken by a large number.
(4) It must be easy of acquisition by the masses.
He then showed how English does not satisfy any of these conditions. He proved that Hindi is the only language that satisfies all these conditions. Hindi was our national language even under the Mahomedan rule and the Mahomedan rulers did not think it proper to substitute it with Persian or Arabic.
He then pointed out the defects in the method of teaching history, geography, science and mathematics. He then also referred to the non-provision of such subjects as music, agriculture, military training, weaving, religion and hygiene.