Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday stated that the Left historians have 'distorted' Indian history by making it a story of losses and submits, and that history should be rewritten to reflect the nation's achievements, news agency PTI reported.


He further asserted that the Left ideology supporters have been seeking to split the state along linguistic lines for decades and insisted that the people must fight such attempts by embracing their "religious commonalities".


"The Leftists have always attempted to falsify our history since they wanted to present Bharat as a defeated 'jati,'" Sarma remarked at the 28th state convention of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).


“They overlook the kings and heroes who resisted and defeated Mughal attacks successfully and write only about those who were defeated,” he claimed.


He listed instances of victorious campaigns conducted by Guru Gobind Singh, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Durga Das Rathore, and Lachit Borphukan, and claimed that Leftist historians left out such successes while writing history.


Highlighting that the time was fit for the history to be written anew, he stated: “We should inspire the students of history to write it anew – not as a tale of defeats and slavery, but one of glory and achievement. This will motivate our new generations further towards nation building.” 


Sarma further accused Left intellectuals of dividing Assamese people along linguistic lines, despite the fact that the state is home to various languages.


“Jatiyatadab’ (sub-nationalism) based on linguistic differences was a ploy of the Leftists to keep Assam divided for over three decades…Leftists try to project language as a point of conflict. Had our leaders stood up to them earlier, we would not have seen so much unrest and problems over the years,” he maintained.


While language is crucial, it cannot be a community's primary identity, and religion and history play equally significant roles, he asserted, adding, “Language will survive only when our religion and culture survives.” 


He emphasised the need of Assamese language speakers embracing other languages in the state and ensuring that all tribes and groups be given equal weight.


The chief minister also emphasised the need of economic self-sufficiency and urged youths to focus on skill development, entrepreneurship, and farming.


“A community needs cultural identity and political pride. But if we can’t progress economically, we cannot become ‘atma nirbhar’ (self-reliant), on which our prime minister has also accorded much emphasis,” he said.


He exhorted the youths to engage in agriculture themselves rather than renting out their property to others.


“If we let others farm on our lands, then we will remain owners only on paper and the actual ownership will slip into the hands of others. There is a huge market potential for our organic and other agricultural products and our youths must explore these,” Sarma added.


He argued that an incorrect perception was developed that Assam and the North East were not historically part of India, leading to a 'separate stream of thoughts' in this area of the nation post-independence.


He stated that views were progressively being changed, which had gained traction since 2014, and that the state was now a partner in nation building.


“We are in a special geographical and political stage in Assam now. There are many challenges before us and we have to meet those by equipping ourselves with correct understanding of history,” Sarma said.


Alluding to many mythical and historical documented evidences of Assam's old connection with the rest of India, he stated:  “Our (Bharat and Assam) ‘atma’ (souls) are same but a distorted version was being propagated. Those who did so have been reduced to naught. This is a new Assam where we are proud Assamese and proud Indians.”


(With Inputs From PTI)