Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that there was need to rewrite the glorious history of India on the basis of truth.
Crediting Veer Savarkar for calling the 1857 rebellion as India’s First War of Independence, Shah said had it not been for him, the rebellion of 1857 would have become history and India would have seen it from the British point of view.
His remarks came two days after the Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party said in its election manifesto that the party would ask the Centre to confer the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar.
“We have to come forward and the historians have a big role in this. If we were not able to revisit our history till now, it is our weakness,” Shah said, inaugurating a two-day international seminar here on ‘Guptvanshak-Veer: Skandagupta Vikramaditya’ at Banaras Hindu University on Thursday.
He appealed to historians to stop cursing and abusing British historians and leftists for writing a wrong history of India.
“It is our responsibility to write our history. How long are we going to blame the British? We don’t have to dispute anyone, only write what is truth and it will stand the test of time,” the Union Home Minister said, referring to eminent historians in the audience and on the dais.
“Write in detail on 200 such great personalities and 25 kingdoms who were forgotten in our history. Do not get into controversy about what history was written earlier, forget it and write history anew,” he added.
The Union Home Minister pointed out that the Gupta period was called the golden period of Indian history and Skandagupta was known for fighting against Hunas.
He said Skandagupta Vikramaditya needed to be brought on top of our history as he fought and won the war which even Rome lost against the alien enemy.
Skandagupta re-formulated the revenue collection method, administration and municipality, Shah said, adding that it is believed that the Gupta ruler stayed at Ghazipur in the Purvanchal region and worked from here. He urged the historians to write more about great rulers like Skandagupta and Chandragupta, who had not been given “enough due in the existing documented history”.
Shah said the greatest success of the Gupta Empire was bringing unity in the nation by ending the conflict between Vaishali and Magadha empires forever.
Shah, who released a book based on the life of Skandagupta, regretted that the today’s generation was “not aware” of the contribution and valour of Skandagupta because of lack of documentation.
He said the Indian boundary extended up to Afghanistan during the reign of Skandagupta and this was the golden era in terms of art.
“Literature, military, culture and art were world-class and we should acknowledge it. The country got the best astrologers during this period and India was freed of invaders from Kashmir to Kandahar. We need to establish the contribution of Skandagupta to our history,” he said.
While dwelling at length on the role and relevance of the Gupta ruler, Shah spoke on the political future of the nation and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making India “regain” its respect in the world.
“Respect for the country has increased under him. The world pays attention to our point of view. The world listens when our PM speaks on international developments,” Shah said.
Shah also praised Madan Mohan Malaviya for founding a university where “Hindu dharma and sanskriti” were propagated even after so many years.
“Whatever might have been on the mind of Madan Mohan Malviyaji at the time of the establishment of the BHU, this university has played a key role in propagating the Hindu culture and has stood tall to protect it,” Shah said.
After hundreds of years of slavery, it was very difficult for any person to reinstate the pride, only a university could do this, he said, adding that these universities are the reason why we are happy with the present day image of the country and are assured of its future too.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey were also present on the occasion.
In his address, Yogi Adityanath referred to the abrogation of Article 370 and termed it a historical and brave step.
“It (Article 370) was invoked due to the stubbornness of (Jawaharlal) Nehru while Sardar Patel was unhappy with it,” Yogi Adityanath said, adding that Patel had then stated that only the one who had a firm resolve would be able to scrap it.
Pandey said it was the vision of Madan Mohan Malaviya that a university like the BHU was established.
He said the country was proud of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Shah. 
The seminar was presided over by BHU Vice-Chancellor Prof Rakesh Bhatnagar.
Earlier, when Shah landed at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Babatpur in the morning, he was welcomed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh, Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey and several others.  From Babatpur  airport, Shah along with Yogi Adityanath reached BHU by a helicopter.
In view of Union Home Minister’s visit, elaborate security arrangements were made on BHU campus.