Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said the government will not rewrite history, but will include "unsung heros and forgotten leaders" who could not find a place in the nation's history earlier.
Addressing an event, he said that centuries after centuries, lakhs of people dedicated their lives in protecting the country's civilisations but "that was not made part of our history".
After India's Independence, attempts were made to limit its history to a "few hours, few years, some 3-4 families" even as literatures pertaining to at least 2,500 years of India's history were available, he said.
Time has come today to make those unsung heros and forgotten leaders part of the nation's history, he said.
"Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Birbal, Todermal...Chanakya..there is a need to read about them," he said.
The minister said a section of people thinks that the government wants to change the country's history.
"We do not want to change. I am saying this here at this platform with full responsibility. We will not rewrite history. We will not change history. We will bring all historic truth before everyone. We will draw a bigger line," he said, adding, "There is no need to belittle anyone."
He also called upon the entire society to come forward and join the move, saying "it's not just the government's job or one person's job."
The minister was speaking at an event organised to unveil a two-part book, titled 'The Revolutionaries: Shed Their Blood For India's Independence', authored by Justice (retired) S N Aggarwal, a former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge.
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(Published 12 April 2022, 15:40 IST)
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