NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said, “Had Veer Savarkar not written the account of the 1857 war of Independence, the truth would have remained hidden from later generations.” He added, “Despite being crushed (by the British), they (the mutineers) achieved victory.”
Shah was speaking at the launch of historian Umendra Ratnu’s book, titled, Maharana: Sahastra Varshon Ka Dharmyudh (Maharanas: A Thousand Year War for Dharma). He said, “Many historians have written extensively on the Mughals but there has hardly been much work on the Ahoms, Pallavas, Chalukyas, Satavahanas or the Guptas, although each of them ruled for hundreds of years.”
Shah said he was moved by the “selfless sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of valiant people over 800-900 years.” It was because of them that “Indian culture and religion has remained alive, flourished and been victorious,” he said. Adding that the Ahoms, Marathas, Mauryas and the Rashtrakutas had “fought many valiant battles,” he said Sawai Man Singh had “settled with Akbar” and it was for this reason that in some parts of Gujarat he is often referred to “Hawai Man Singh”.
Claiming that in the past “lies” have been propagated in Indian history, Shah gave the examples of Bappa Rawal and Rawal Ratan Singh who did not allow foreign invasion. However, Ratnu’s book, Shah said, would banish “many wrong perceptions” about India’s glorious past.