"We have worked to preserve our heritage since 2014" Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

"Ever since the formation of our government at the centre in 2014, we have worked to preserve our heritage. Today, when we are taking the brave story of Lachit Borphukan to the people, it is not the honour of any individual, it is the honour of our glorious history," Rajnath Singh said.

Lachit Borphukan, the famous General of the Royal Army of the Ahom Kingdom of Assam who defeated the Mughals and successfully halted the ever-expanding ambitions of the Mughals under Aurangzeb.

Singh was addressing the families of the freedom fighters and a public gathering at Gandhi Prtisthan Kendra Gomati Nagar in Lucknow after launching the book "Mati ka Mahayoddha" written by Asif Azami.

He further said that the government's initiative to celebrate "Tribal Pride Day" is a medium to express gratitude to all the unsung tribal martyrs and heroes who died for freedom, not merely a tribute to Shaheed Birsa Munda.

The Union Minister hailed the "soil of Purvanchal" (eastern UP) and called it the "flag bearer" of the freedom movement.

"This soil of Purvanchal has been the flag bearer of our freedom movement. The history of the country's freedom movement is incomplete without the history of the revolutionaries and the sacrifices of Purvanchal. This land has been the Karmabhoomi or Janmabhoomi of 8 out of 16 Prime Ministers of the country," he said adding that the book written by Azami also underlines the same contribution of Purvanchal.

"It is not only literature, culture and music that have raised their flag in the fertile soil of Purvanchal. India's saint and knowledge tradition has also flourished here. This land did not lag behind even in the struggle and sacrifice for the freedom of the country," he further said.

Singh also lauded Asif Azami for his book and said, "Azami has done justice to his soil by documenting the bravery of the soil of Purvanchal. Asif Azami ji deserves gratitude. He has traced unnamed freedom fighters from 32 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh."

The union minister further said that the history of India is not just a history of slavery, but a history of conquest.

"To understand India, it is necessary to understand history properly. There is a need to see and understand history from the right perspective. The history of India is not just a history of slavery, but a history of conquest. But India's history was written as a history of slavery and defeat," Singh said.

He further alleged that the country's history is "wrongly" written.

"Till calling a great patriot like Veer Savarkar a British Stooge and calling Bhagat Singh a "Revolutionary Terrorist", a special group of biased historians wrote the history of India with the ink of ideologies. All this should have changed after independence. But unfortunately, even after independence, the history of India was written under the influence of ideologies. 1857 War of Independence was called "Sepoy Mutiny" instead of "First War of Independence," he added. (ANI)