Needed: an Epistemological Overhaul

India is on the move. It has emerged as a powerful nation capable of withstanding international pressures. Yet the journey remains uneven. Reforms are resisted more often than they are welcomed. The government may be willing to push reforms forward, but the very people meant to benefit from them frequently display reluctance. The path to national power and prosperity is, at its core, an epistemological enterprise, but the custodians of thought act in contradiction to it. Collectivist and leftist underpinnings remain deeply entrenched. Nearly a millennium of alien rule has distorted the collective noetic framework. There is little recognition of the need for an epistemological overhaul. Some voices now argue for functional ideas, but their efforts remain a contestation with the established framework rather than a comprehensive reconstruction of it.

Niraj Kumar Jha