‘Erasing history?’ Amit Shah has a different answer: ‘Decolonisation’

New Delhi: Rejecting the opposition charge of the BJP “erasing history,” Union Home & Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that what is happening is decolonisation with a purpose of presenting complete history to the world from an Indian perspective and without distortion.

“I do not agree with the talk that history is being erased…I beg to differ with scholars on this aspect...true knowledge cannot be confined to ideology,” Shah said addressing a gathering at the Asiatic Society at the iconic Town Hall at Fort in Mumbai after inaugurating Ganesh Ganyarthi exhibition on the eve of 12-day-long Ganeshotsav.

“(What is happening) is the process of decolonisation, which is not about erasing history. It means presenting history to the people of the world in a completely authentic manner and from an Indian perspective,” he said.

According to him, the British had turned history, knowledge, traditions, and culture into tools to preserve their own power.

“The British had bound knowledge and power together, but now knowledge and power should be separated, and power should be constructed on the basis of knowledge, and the country should be run accordingly—this is the task that the Asiatic Society should undertake,” the BJP stalwart said in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Higher & Technical Minister Chandrakant Patil and former Rajya Sabha member Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the newly-elected President of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.

Manoj Jarange-Patil’s Maratha quota agitation poses big challenge to Fadnavis govt during Ganeshotsav

“A nation that cannot protect its memory, history, rituals, language, and archival traditions will not take long to perish, no matter how powerful it may be. On the other hand, a nation that safeguards its archives, grammar, and language cannot be enslaved by anyone, no matter how many years it has remained in bondage. India is an example of this,” Shah said.

“One might burn down the library at Nalanda, setting it ablaze so fiercely that smoke billows from it for months….however, no one can destroy the knowledge that has become ingrained in the collective consciousness of the people through memory and oral tradition,” Shah said amid thunderous applause.

“India's ethos is that when we are defeated, we move forward with patience, and when we achieve victory, we strive to connect those over whom we have triumphed to our traditions without erasing their memory,” the Home Minister said.

Applauding the Asiatic Society, which is over two centuries old, Shah said: “Today, I intended to speak very briefly, but I definitely want to discuss the word Indology—to understand the Asiatic Society, one must also understand the term ‘Indology’…numismatics, epigraphy, anthropology, history, archaeology, linguistics, philosophy, literature, theology and grammar together formed what is known as Indology.”