The correct option is (d) 1, 2 and 3.
Explanation
The Anglicist-Orientalist controversy regarding the medium and content of education in British India. Lord Macaulay’s Minute (1835) advocated for the promotion of Western education through the medium of English, dismissing traditional Indian learning.
Statement 1 is Correct: Macaulay famously asserted that "a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia." He believed that teaching English would allow Indians to access the "finest literature" the world had produced, which he associated exclusively with Western works.
Statement 2 is Correct: Macaulay argued that English was the key to modern knowledge. He emphasized that English education would make Indians aware of the rapid developments in Western science, philosophy, and history, which he considered rational and superior to the "superstitious" and "mythological" learning of the East.
Statement 3 is Correct: Macaulay’s objective was not just educational but cultural. He explicitly stated the goal to create "a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect." This reflects the intent to change the values and culture of the educated elite.
Key Takeaway: Macaulay’s Minute (1835) laid the foundation for English education in India with the triple objective of accessing Western literature, promoting scientific knowledge, and creating a culturally anglicized class of intermediaries (Filtration Theory).