Narendra Modi: The father of decolonisation literacy

History and Subjectivity

History becomes objective only when subjectivity is removed, as excessive subjectivity leads to confusion, confrontations, and eventually abhorrence for historians. A stage comes when selective facts are presented as “true” history, which can even mark the death of professional historians. India seems to have reached such a stage—where decades of churning over historical events, icons, and processes have made history feel like a burden rather than a living past.

Since the colonial era and through the Nehruvian period, contemporary history writing has been more about mental slavery—a construct of ideologies rather than the truth of time. Such writings failed to shape morality or thought; instead, they only forced future generations to learn history for the sake of knowing it, not understanding it. They also suppressed many facts, silenced alternative narratives, and denied space to several figures who shaped India’s civilisation and freedom struggle.

The Turning Point in 2014

The year 2014 marked a major turning point. The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected Nehruvian historical writing and began a quest to uncover the realities of India’s past. This moment divides modern India into two eras: the Nehruvian era and the Modi era.

Personalities don’t always shape history, but at crucial junctures, they can define a nation’s destiny. Nehru and Modi stand as two such figures, offering a sharp contrast in their approach to decolonising India’s ideas, structures, and mindset. Nehru actively fought for Independence, while Modi was born after India’s freedom—but Modi pushed harder for the decolonisation of thought, whereas Nehru retained colonial legacies.

Two Revealing Incidents

Two incidents highlight this contrast. Mohan Ranade (1930–2019), a key figure in the Goan liberation movement, was jailed by the Portuguese in 1955 and deported to Lisbon. When Goa was liberated in 1961, Nehru allowed over 3,000 Portuguese to leave India with honour—but forgot about Ranade, who languished in prison until 1969.

Similarly, Shyamji Krishna Verma (1857–1930), who inspired revolutionaries like V.D. Savarkar, died in Geneva in 1930 and willed that his ashes be returned to India. For decades, Nehru and his successors ignored this. It was Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, who brought his ashes back in 2003 and built his memorial, Kranti Teerth, in 2010.

These incidents reveal two nationalist mindsets—two opposite sentiments toward the crusaders who helped liberate Mother India.

Changing Symbols and Statues

The Mahabharata offers a telling analogy: when Yudhisthir asked Bhishma if situations create kings or kings change situations, Bhishma replied, “Raja kalasya karnam”—it is the king who changes the situation with vision, wisdom, and courage.

Nehru allowed statues of British kings and queens to remain in India’s capital and major cities. King George V’s statue stood at India Gate till 1968 and was removed only when the Bharatiya Jana Sangh came to power in Delhi in 1967. Even in 1957, the centenary of the First War of Independence, Nehru suppressed campaigns to remove colonial symbols.

In contrast, Modi installed a statue of Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate in 2022—replacing colonial icons with patriotic ones. American President Eisenhower was shocked in 1959 to see colonial statues in India, recalling how Americans had torn down the statue of George III in 1776 after declaring independence. While Washington removed colonial legacies, Nehru preserved them as symbols of modernity and liberalism, and professional historians followed his lead—keeping India trapped in colonial thinking for seven decades. Modi has broken that pattern.

Decolonising Laws, Education, and Mindset

Even after Independence, the colonial mindset packaged as Nehruvian modernity continued. Over 1,700 British-era laws—written in the language of slavery—remained on the books. Between 2017 and 2024, the Modi government removed them, marking major progress in decolonising India’s laws and governance.

Modi’s speeches are also free from Eurocentric ideas or colonial cultural legacies. He often cites Indian literature, the Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Upanishads, the Licchvi republic, and the Chola rule—reclaiming India’s civilisational heritage. He unapologetically asserts that India, not Athens, is the mother of democracy.

For decades, Macaulayism dominated education, making Indian knowledge traditions seem backward. The New Education Policy under Modi reversed this, sparking a new renaissance. It has inspired Indians to rediscover who they were, where they are now, and where they are headed.

Decolonising the Mind

Frantz Fanon wrote that imperialism leaves behind “germs of rot” which must be removed not only from the land but also from the mind. Modi is working to remove this rot from India’s minds and culture.

As Prof. K.C. Bhattacharya said in 1931, true freedom is an idea—and Modi has transformed this idea into reality. History will remember him as the leader who spearheaded the decolonisation of India’s mind, culture, and structures.