Union home minister Amit Shah addressing a seminar at BHU in Varanasi on Thursday. (ANI photo)

VARANASI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday stressed the need to rewrite history from India's perspective, saying had it not been for Vinayak Damodar Savarkar , the British portrayal of the 1857 uprising as just a mutiny by Indian sepoys in the East India Company 's army would have still ruled the roost.

"It was Savarkar who gave the name first war of Independence to the 1857 'kranti', otherwise our children would have known it as a revolt," Shah said. His comments came against the backdrop of BJP's push for a Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, something which has been seen as an ambitious effort to put the Hindutva icon on a pedestal.

Shah, who was here to inaugurate a two-day international seminar "Remembering Guptavanshaik-Veer Skandgupta Vikramaditya and Political Future of India" at the Banaras Hindu University, said history has always been written by the victor; those who succeed in capturing power.

"India never invaded any foreign territory, but we have our own heroes like Skandgupta who defeated the Hunas when they had conquered a large part of Asia and Europe and had seemed invincible. It is unfortunate that our children don't know about the great ruler (Skandgupta) who extended India's boundary from Junagarh to Afghanistan. It is also unfortunate that his merits and contributions are ignored and there are not enough historical references about him," Shah said.

"It is the responsibility of our historians and people to preserve and rewrite the nation's history. How long will we go on cursing the British saying they did injustice to us? Who is stopping us from rewriting (history)? We should not get into controversies over past writings. Instead, we should write history with our own view," he said.

It is very important to rewrite the country's history with an Indian point of view. I believe there is no point blaming Left, British or Mughal historians. If our historians cannot ensure that our 200 great personalities and 25 great empires which flourished here get their rightful place in our history, we have to change our vision and rethink our approach," he added.

Praising Skandgupta's achievements, Shah said, "Literature, military, culture and art were world class. The country had the best astrologers during the period and India was freed of invaders from Kashmir to Kandahar. We need to include Skandgupta's contribution in our history."

Addressing the historians on the dais and in the audience, the home minister said, "We don't have to dispute anything, only write the truth and it will stand the test of time." Shah also praised Madan Mohan Malaviya for founding BHU where "Hindu dharma and sanskriti are still propagated after so many years". He praised PM Modi for making India "regain" its respect in the world. "Respect for our country has increased. The world pays attention to our views. It listens when our PM speaks," he said.



In Video: Amit Shah calls for re-writing history to reflect India's point of view