It is a very simple amendment. The grievance of the whole country for a century and a half has been that the indigenous talents and intellect which the country produced was never recognised by the British. They had their own pattern of pedantism with which they thought they could run the administration of the country. Therefore those who took to learning the English language and who began to practice English mannerism were considered to be educated, and fit to take charge of the Government of the country. My regret is that even today the same conditions obtain. The country fought for freedom not against the British, as Mahatma Gandhi said. It was not against colour. It was against the bureaucracy that we fought and wanted to be free from it. Now the very same bureaucracy stands as it is. According to my opinion, Government must not be allowed to be run by persons who are mercenary, who come and offer their intellectual talents on hire. I am a man of a different way of thinking. I consider the English education as a curse to India. All these pedants who boast of their foreign accents suffer from a superiority complex. They are generally speaking a demoralised and denationalised lot. I think Government servants must be paid according to their needs and they should not be encouraged to bargain their talents. They must offer as volunteers to serve the State. Only then the old pattern will change and that can come about only if we discord the English language and own our own culture with pride. Now all stress is on the English language. I am opposed to present method of selection of candidates to the services. My friend Shri Monomohan Das complains that if Hindi were made the official language, persons who belong to non-Hindi speaking areas will suffer in competition with people who come from these areas. I therefore suggest that the overall capacity must not be examined even in Hindi. I am not only for Hindi. My submission is that every candidate must be examined in his own mother tongue. It is in one’s own mother tongue that one would be able to express his ideas best.
