No one can stop us from rewriting history to free it from distortions: Amit Shah
New Delhi (PTI): Home Minister Amit Shah has said no one can stop rewriting of history to free it from "distortions" as he urged academicians to research and write about 30 great Indian empires and 300 warriors who showed exemplary valour to fight for the motherland.
The home minister said on Thursday had it not been for Veer Lachit Barphukan, the Northeast would not have been a part of India. He was addressing a plenary session of the 400th birth anniversary celebrations of the legendary Ahom general.
He protected not only Northeast India but the entire Southeast Asia from "religious fanatic" Aurangzeb, Shah said.
The home minister asked Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to translate literary work on the life and times of Lachit Barphukan into 10 Indian languages, including Hindi, so that children can take inspiration from him.
"I often come across complaints that our history has been distorted and tampered with. These allegations could be true. But who stops it from being corrected now? Who stops us from writing the correct history now," he said.
Shah urged historians and students to identify 30 great empires in Indian history that ruled for more than 150 years in any part of the country and 300 warriors who showed exemplary courage to fight for the independence of the country and conduct research and write extensively about them.
"If we do this, we will see that the true history of India will be established and the lies will end spontaneously. In India, we now have a government which supports any endeavour to promote the glory of the country. We will work towards reviving India's glorious history," Shah said at the event organised by the Assam government.
Shah said a nation that does not derive pride from its glorious past, that does not garner inspiration from its heroes can never create a bright future for itself and cannot create better citizens and a golden future.
The minister said Barphukan fought the Saraighat battle in adverse circumstances by taking together different tribes, using local resources to build small arms and boats to take on the mighty army led by Ram Singh of Amer.
"The Mughal army did not have that iota of patriotism and dedication for the country that Barphukan and his soldiers had. This was a victory of patriotism. They won and not only secured the sovereignty, culture and heritage of Ahom but also saved entire Southeast Asia from religiously fanatic invader Aurangzeb," he said.
The home minister said that after this crushing defeat, foreign invaders from Delhi could never gather the courage to invade Assam again.
"If Lachit Barphukan was not there in Assam during those times, Assam and Northeast India would have never become a part of India," Shah said.
He further said that the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan unveils a new episode of India's history in which Assam rulers defeated Muslim invaders of different ages and secured the sovereignty of their motherland.
Shah said Assam Chief Minister Sarma unveiled stories of glorious stories of Ahom warriors from Maharaj Prithu who defeated Bakhtiar Khalji in 1206 to Lachit Barphukan who defeated the Mughals in 1671 and urged students of history to look at the exhibition organised on the occasion.
Shah said that right from 1206 to 1671 Assam was invaded 22 times by Muslim invaders but could not keep it under the thumb of Muslim rule for long because of the relentless commitment of its people to independence.
He said it is because of this attitude, the Northeast has kept its culture intact. Its beautiful region, language, culture, dresses, music and food remained untouched by foreign influences.
He said be it Akbar or Aurangzeb, Qutb ud-Din Aibak or Iltutmish, Bakhtiyar Khalji or Iwaz Khali, Muhammad bin Tughluq or Mir Jumla, everyone has faced defeat in Assam by the valour of Ahom Kings.
Shah said the times in which Lachit Barphukan raised his sword against the Mughals, Chhatrapati Shivaji in the south of India, Guru Govind Singh in the north, and Veer Durgadas Rathore in Rajasthan waged the same battle against the same enemy.
"On account of their relentless efforts, exemplary courage and sacrifice, the Mughal empire collapsed," he said.
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister of Water Resources and Public Affairs Pijush Hazarika, Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, and Justice (Retd) Ranjan Gogoi attended the event.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sambhal violence orchestrated by BJP, govt to divert attention from poll rigging: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district over the survey of a mosque was "orchestrated" by the BJP, the government and the administration "to divert attention from electoral malpractice".
Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals in Sambhal on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Ten people have been detained and a probe was launched into the violence, an official said.
Tension has been brewing in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh bypoll results were declared and the Samajwadi Party managed to win just two seats while the BJP and its ally RLD bagged the other seven, Yadav levelled serious allegations against the police and administration.
"A serious incident occurred in Sambhal. A survey team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the elections. The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could happen," the Samajwadi Party chief claimed.
Citing reports, he said several people were injured in the violence in Sambhal and asked when a survey of the mosque was already done, why was a new survey conducted again and "that too in the morning and without preparation?"
"I don't want to go into the legal or procedural aspects, but the other side was not even heard. This was intentionally done to provoke emotions and avoid discussions on election rigging," Yadav said.
"What happened in Sambhal was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the administration to divert attention from electoral malpractices," the former UP chief minister alleged.
Asserting that in democracy, true victory comes from the people, not the system, he said, "The new democracy created by the BJP ensures that people cannot vote while the system dominates."
He added that whenever an impartial investigation takes place, and the truth comes out through booth recordings and CCTV footage, it will be evident that "voters did not cast their votes and someone else became the voter inside the booth".
Yadav claimed that on the polling day, the police and the administration removed the Samajwadi Party's almost all booth agents and many supporters who wanted to vote.
"If voters were prevented from voting, then who cast the votes? If Samajwadi Party votes didn't reach those booths and our candidate didn't get support, then who voted there? This is a serious issue," he said.
"Additionally, there were two types of slips, -- one with a red mark and another regular slip. We raised this issue on the voting day itself, stating that the administration had created such arrangements, leading to discrimination," Yadav alleged.
The Samajwadi Party's candidate for the Kundarki assembly bypoll Haji Rizwan too has alleged that his supporters were prevented from voting.
The BJP's Ramveer Singh won the bypoll in the Kundarki seat by a margin of over 1.45 lakh votes.
