Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said India is set to take a giant leap in the 75th year of its Independence and nobody will be able to stop it from becoming a great nation.
Amit Shah said foreign powers could keep India under their rule as they succeeded in creating an inferiority complex amongst Indians which should be uprooted to achieve independence in its truest sense.
The home minister was speaking after the launch of a mega serial 'Swaraj - Bharat Ke Swatantrata Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha', produced by Doordarshan to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence.
The 75-episode mega show chronicles lesser-known tales about Indian history and would be telecast from August 14 on Doordarshan in Hindi and regional languages.
Amit Shah wondered if India could claim to have achieved the true ideals of Swaraj if it failed to protect its languages, culture, and history as it marched towards the centenary of Independence.
"The real meaning of Swaraj means to run India the way Indians want it to be run. It includes our own languages, our religion, our culture and also our arts," Amit Shah said at the function attended by Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, Minister of State L Murugan, members of parliament among others.
Amit Shah said India has been administered well since Independence and has had several achievements to its credit.
"Whoever came (to power) has taken the country forward. We respect everyone. But, if we cannot protect our languages in the centenary year, then would we have achieved the real aim of Swaraj," Amit Shah asked.
He said the Indian civilisation had progressed for several thousand years and there was no need for any Non-Government Organisation (NGO) to educate the country about its culture.
"Those who ruled us, destroyed our best systems. They knew that they could rule us only if they succeeded in creating an inferiority complex within us, because we were ahead of them in every aspect," Amit Shah said.
"These people created a myth that we were illiterate. The country that gave Geeta and the Vedas to the world, the country that gave the world 'zero', the country that gave the world astronomy, how can it be illiterate," he asked.
Amit Shah expressed the hope that the television serial 'Swaraj' will help the country get rid of its inferiority complex and make young people take pride in the country's history.
In his brief address, Anurag Thakur lauded Amit Shah as a master strategist and a modern day 'Chanakya' who fulfilled the long standing demand of getting rid of Article 370 and 35A, and taking steps to strengthen national security.
"We have heard that Sardar Patel had unified India. I see a reflection of Sardar Patel in Amit Shah. Sardar Patel unified the country, Amit Shah is making it stronger," Anurag Thakur said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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