Varanasi : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that had it not been for Veer Savarkar, India wouldn't have known the importance of the 1857 Mutiny.
"The Mutiny of 1857 would have remained a revolt as the British had labelled it. It was Veer Savarkar who gave it the name of the first war of independence," said Shah.
Underscoring the fact that we tend to see history from the standpoint of the Britishers, he asserted that history needed to be re-written, so that the real facts could be placed before the nation.
Shah's statement assumes significance in view of the fact that the Maharashtra BJP, in its manifesto, has pledged to seek Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi counts as one of his icons. Shah is also an ardent follower of Savarkar and even has an image of the revolutionary in his drawing room.
Addressing a seminar on 'Guptvanshak Veer' at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on Thursday, Shah asked historians to rewrite history “from India’s point of view but without blaming anyone”. “It is our responsibility to write our history,” he told the audience.
“How long are we going to blame the British? We don’t have to dispute what anyone has said, only write what is the truth and it will stand the test of time.”
"There are over 200 great leaders, who have not been given their due in history. We should not get into a debate on what has been written but focus on what should be written. When Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya established the Banaras Hindu University, there was a thought behind it.
Even today this institution is promoting Indian culture," he said.Shah further said that Chandragupta Maurya did not get the honour he deserved.
"His valour was not sufficiently appreciated. The period of Maurya and Gupta dynasty has been downplayed. Such historical anomalies, too, need to be corrected," he said.India’s territorial limits extended up to Afghanistan during the reign of Skandagupta Vikramaditya and this was its golden era.
But these things are not highlighted due to lack of documentation. "Literature, military, culture and art were of world class and we should acknowledge it.
The country had the best astrologers during this period and India was free of invaders from Kashmir to Kandhahar. We need to establish the contribution of Skandgupta in our history," he said.
