New Delhi: Launching an attack on Congress for ‘distorting’ history, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he plans to shut all Madrasas in his state as they are not needed in ‘New India’.
Addressing an event in poll-bound Karnataka, Sarma said instead of madrasas, Assam needed more schools, colleges and universities to educate individuals who would eventually serve the country.
Going on a tirade against the Opposition parties, Sarma accused the Congress and Communists of ‘distorting’ history and misinterpreting facts. He also labelled the Congress as the “new Mughals”.
"I come from Assam where everyday people arrive from Bangladesh. There is a threat to our culture and traditions. Recently in a TV interview in Delhi, I was asked what my intention was in having shut down 600 madrasas. I said that I have shut 600, but my intention is to shut all madrasas,” news agency PTI quoted CM Sarma as saying.
“There is no need of madrasas in this 'New India'. We have to move forward in this direction, we have to transform our education system; time has come to rewrite our history in a new way as it was distorted earlier,” he added.
Pointing out that there are many people in this country who claim with pride that they are Muslims or Christians, the Assam CM said, "I have no objections, but we want people who will with pride say, 'I'm a Hindu'".
He then went on to make unsubstantiated remarks about the 17th century Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, who allegedly tried to destroy Hinduism, and recalled his contemporary Shivaji's contributions to protecting Sanatana Dharma and its traditions.
"We will have to rewrite history in a new way. We will have to tell that Shivaji Maharaj was stronger than Aurangzeb. Such history has to be written by Indians," CM Sarma said.
He asserted that India's history is only that of Shivaji, Durgadas Rathore and Guru Gobind Singh and accused the Congress and Communists of having made history of Babar, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb as ‘India's history’.
“Temples are being constructed under the governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is New India. Earlier, Mughals tried to weaken India, and now Congress is doing it. Congress are today's new Mughals,” he further said.