Decolonised yet colonial

In this age of politically independent India, we casually, or dare I say unthinkingly, use so many terms as a part of our day to day language. Like 'modern', 'rational', 'orthodox', 'scientific', 'reason/reasonable', 'logical' etc., to name a few. But do we ever ask ourselves, where does the origin of the inherent meaning of these words lie? The practices which are synonymous to these terms today, have their origin in the era of renaissance, and the 'Age of enlightenment'. It was then, when the treaty of westphallia was signed and the first voyage of Columbus took place and then began the 'Age of discovery'. The European colonial powers, by the use of brute force/tactics, subjugated societies all over the world. But their interest didn't just involve the political and economic exploitation. They also desired to convert the entire subjugated society to their way of life and they did so by means of introducing the European political structure and education system. The period between fifteenth to nineteenth century is said to be the origin of these terms. As a result of the cultural imposition by European colonisers, the terms, like modernity, rationality, reason, etc. started to have a specific meaning, instead of a general one. The colonial powers, imposed the practices they developed and adopted after the Renaissance, as the only true meaning of these terms, establishing their cultural monopoly over them. They hijacked the very root of all these concepts, 'reason', superimposing the Euro centric meaning to it and that was followed by the other words. To break and stratify the indigenous societies, the colonisers selectively included the dominant groups or the elite of the colonised society in their power structure as a 'victim collaborator', justifying it using the pseudo scientific race theories, and alienated then from masses. Colonisers taught them the ways of European culture and thus used them to create the aspirations among masses to be, believe and think like the European colonisers. The coloniser destroyed and distorted the mind of the colonised and aligned their world view with that of its own. This was done to the extent that most of the indigenous practices were alienated from the main stream and were labelled to be at loggerheads with the contemporary suitability. In case those practices fitted into European frame of reference, they were appropriated by the coloniser without giving any credits to the colonised society. 

Let's understand it with a simplistic example. Let us suppose, that as an outcome of the period of renaissance and 'age of enlightenment', a European Christian country named X realised that it is right kind of practice or rational/logical practice to get up only after the sunrise in the morning or to right only with left hand. Later they went on to colonise a pagan country named Y in Asia. During the process of colonial exploitation, they introduced European education/political system and imposed their values in such a way, that the people of country Y, now started to believe that it is actually right to get up after sunrise in the morning or to write with left have, and any practice other than this is orthodox/anti-modern/traditional/backward. If you ask them as to why do they think so, they will have no explanation except that their colonial master introduced this as a rational practice. Although they won't say it explicitly, but subconsciously this explanation is entrenched in their mind. That's the very simplistic way of explaining the phenomenon because of which, every practice that originated in Europe as a good practice, or a rational/modern one, has become synonymous with those adjectives even in those colonised or formerly colonised societies where they don't fit in naturally. Effectively it means that the western terms which are supposed to have general meanings to them have been fitted with Eurocentric practices, originating in European mindset and values and backed by European logic, and these terms are now thrust upon by the colonised eastern societies by themselves.

So next time, when you use the term like modernity/rationality/orthodox to argue against an indigenous practice, ask yourself, whether the logic you are use originated in your society or a European one.