“Who has stopped us now from presenting a glorious history to the world? We will have to work hard, make amends,” the Union Home Minister said at event to commemorate Ahom general Lachit Borphukan who fought Aurangzeb
Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that it was not enough to complain that history has been distorted, adding that the time had come to rewrite it. He urged scholars and students to come forward and research at least 30 kingdoms that ruled any part of India for more than 150 years.
Mr. Shah was speaking at the 400th birth anniversary celebration of sixteenth-century Ahom army general Lachit Borphukan.
Rewriting ‘old history’ for a New India
Had it not been for the Ahom army general, the northeast would not have been part of India, said the Home Minister, adding that it was due to Borphukan that no foreign invader ever dared to conquer Assam again.
At the event organised by Assam government, Mr. Shah said that it was time to begin a new history, adding that the lies told over the years would soon be forgotten. “I often hear that our history has been distorted, that it has been twisted and written inaccurately. Maybe it’s true. But who has stopped us now from presenting a glorious history to the world? We will have to work hard, make amends,” said the Minister.
He urged scholars and students to study 300 personalities who sacrificed their lives for India’s independence and “write history afresh” so that the lies of the past are forgotten.
Prominence given to Mughals at the cost of others, says Amit Shah
Mr. Shah said that Muslim invaders had tried to attack the Ahom dynasty many times but noted that the battle of Saraighat where Aurangzeb was defeated by Borphukan was the decisive one. “This is why this region has the richest cultural heritage. After being defeated by a relatively smaller army of the Ahom rulers in Assam in 1671, the foreign invaders from Delhi could never gather the courage to invade Assam again,” the Minister said.
“If Lachit Borphukan was not there in Assam during those times, Assam and northeast India would have never become a part of India. He not only protected Assam and northeast India but entire southeast Asia,” said Mr. Shah, adding that at the same time as Lachit Borphukan raised his sword against the Mughals, others waging the same battle against the same enemy included Chhatrapati Shivaji in the south, Guru Govind Singh in the north and Veer Durgadas Rathore in Rajasthan.
Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that it was a misnomer that Aurangzeb ruled the whole of India. “We get to read a lot about Mughals, but there is no mention of Lachit Borphukan. He stopped the Mughals, he ensured that Aurangzeb‘s reign is stopped. We get to hear about Aurangzeb so much that he conquered whole of India,” said Mr. Sarma, adding that northeastern India was never ruled by the Mughals.
It was unfortunate that Indian kings were ignored in the history books, while the Assam army fought many wars against “Islamic forces”, he added.
