Krishna Kumar - Divide and rule is the winning ideology this election, only we call it polarisation
“Beg to differ” was one of the many phrases that made no
sense but you had to get used to them in order to learn English. That this
phrase would one day become essential had never occurred to me. Now it has. I
feel like using it all the time these days. Differing from another person in
public is full of risk, so if begging secures you some kindness in advance,
there is no harm in begging. This is, of course, not why an English gentleman
said, “I beg to differ”.
Many old expressions that have gone out of use in the native
land of the English continue to be used in India. Our system of education keeps
them alive. They are regularly used in administration, police procedures and in
the judiciary. As an English-using nation, our status has improved and many of
our English writers are treated as mother-tongue speakers.
Consider the staple of colonial history. The English
practised a divide and rule policy, according to several Class 8 history
textbooks. According to them, Partition was a consequence of this policy. If
that is so, why are we doing the same thing now? Divide and rule seems to have
become the winning ideology of the current election. We call it differently
now. The term preferred by television anchors and the press is polarisation.
They say the outcome of this election will depend on the extent to which the
polarising rhetoric of the ruling party succeeds. Other parties are also said
to be following this approach except they are polarising along regional or
caste lines... read more:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/identity-politics-education-system-dividing-to-rule-colonial-history-partition-5734289/?pfrom=HP