Staff Reporter :
“Rabindranath Tagore termed the colonial education in India and Bangladesh as most damaging to the intellectual backbone of the people of the Nation and as such it was unacceptable.”
Professor Anwarul Karim said it while he was delivering the keynote speech at Bangla Academy on the occasion of the 158th birth anniversary of Rabindranath.
Professor Karim in his speech said that Rabindranath was most critical about introduction of English as a compulsory language.
He said,”Our boys have failed to learn English properly as it was foreign to them and they were not being educated as they ought to have been and was intended to destroy the cultural heritage of the people”, It was a kind of ‘trade,’ necessary for getting jobs only and it did not make an enlightened man, Tagore thus remarked while commenting on educational planning in India and Bangladesh by the British.
Quoting Lord Macaulay’s deliberations at the British Parliament in 1835, Professor Karim maintained, Macaulay reported that he visited extensively in India and he did not find any thief or a beggar anywhere in India. He then stated that the British would not be able to conquer the land unless they could destroy or break the ancient system of education and culture of the Indian people.
In fact, Rabindranath always upheld the ethical as well as the moral and spiritual values in education as these were implemented in ancient education and culture in India.
Presided over by Professor Anisuzzaman, the National Professor and Chairman, Bangla Academy, Dhaka, the meeting was addressed among others by Mr. Habibullah Siraji, DG Bangla Academy who gave the welcome address on the occasion. The three Rabindra Scholars who received Rabindra Padak included Professor Dr. Shafiuddin, Professor Begum Akhter Kamal and the Tagore artist, Iqbal Ahmed. Each of them spoke on the occasion giving vent to their feeling as they received the award.
Professor Anisuzzaman in his presidential speech said that Rabindranath always pleaded for pleasure and liberal approach in education.
The programme maintained a sanctity as it was the month of Ramzan. Songs were limited and these were devotional.
