http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/untouchables-idolise-english-as-lady-liberty/story-e6frg6so-1225944861648
Untouchables idolise English as lady liberty
Rhys Blakely, Mumbai From: The Australian October 29, 2010 12:00AM
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Newsvine What are these? A NEW language deity is about to appear in a
tiny, impoverished Indian village, where a temple is being built to
the "Goddess English".
A black granite shrine in Bankar, in the northern state of Uttar
Pradesh, will soon house a bronze idol of the new goddess. Locals,
most of whom speak Hindi, hope she will bring them prosperity and
fresh opportunities.
The temple has been paid for by members of the Dalit, or
"Untouchable", community, a group that has been oppressed for
centuries under India's caste system. The idol in the shrine will
depict a female figure inspired by the Statue of Liberty, standing
astride a computer, clutching a copy of the Indian constitution.
The symbolism is hard to miss: if India's Dalits want to live the new
Indian dream and join the burgeoning middle classes, they must first
learn the language of Shakespeare and Milton.
"Tell me, how are you going to get to Oxford knowing only Hindi?"
asked Chandra Bhan Prasad, a Dalit newspaper columnist and one of the
driving forces behind the new goddess. "If Dalits are going to make a
foray into the international economy, if they are going to take any of
the new professional jobs being created in India . . . they're going
to need to speak English. And when you make it a matter of faith, how
can you refuse to learn your ABCs?"
Under British rule, English was the language of the elite. After six
decades of independence - and despite Hindi being made the official
language in 1965 - little has changed.
The Untouchables, millions of whom are still forced to carry out the
most disgusting and dangerous jobs, have long regarded English as the
key to emancipation.
In Bankar, the village where the temple is being built, locals have
long celebrated English Day on October 25, the anniversary of the
birth of Thomas Macaulay, the British administrator credited with
choosing English as the language of Raj bureaucracy.
"English is neutral, it is more secular than India's own languages,
which carry the legacy of caste," Mr Prasad said.
"And everybody knows it is a global language without a rival - even
the French recognise that."
The Times
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