New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that India is the only country in the world which is a geo-cultural nation and whose boundaries are not formed by “war or agreement” but defined by culture.
Speaking at the launch of the book ‘Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh Through the Ages, A Visual Narrative of Continuities & Linkages’ here, he said, “From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gandhar to Odisha and Bengal to Gujarat, wherever we go, we are a country connected by culture”.
The Home Minister said that those who define a country as a “geopolitical” won’t be able to define India which is connected by culture.
He said, “There was a period of 150 years when the meaning of history was from Delhi Dariba to Balli Maran and from Lutyens to Delhi’s Gymkhana. History was confined to these places only. History cannot be written by sitting here. History can only be understood by meeting the people, understanding their languages, their lives and their cultures”.
“The time has come to free ourselves from the history which was written to please the rulers. I urge the eminent historian of the country through this programme to write our thousands of years old history with fact, confidence and present it infront of the world with proof and pride,” Shah said.
The Minister said, “To understand India, we have to understand the fact that connects our country. Same thing happened with the history of Kashmir and Ladakh. Who ruled here and who lived here, what agreements were signed and analyising this in my view is pointless. Only those historians can do who see history in a different way.”
He said that Kashmir had always been an inseparable part of India, and will always remain inseparable. It cannot separated by any law, adding that attempts were made but at the end those sections were removed and all barriers were removed.
Present on the occasion was Union Education Minister Dharmedra Pradhan and other dignitaries.
UNI