Guwahati: PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on Friday attended the closing ceremony of the year-long celebration of 400th birth anniversary of 17th century Ahom army general Lachit Barphukan held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. Congratulating State chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for successful conduct of the three-day celebration in the national capital, PM Modi exuded confidence this would prove decisive in ensuring Lachit Barphukan’s saga of courage, valour and patriotism don’t remain limited to the boundaries of Assam alone but spread across lengths and breadths of the nation.
Modi stated that for ages, there has been a conscious attempt from certain quarters at portraying the history of India as that of defeat and surrender. Attempts at celebrating the saga of unsung heroes such as Lachit Barphukan are going to prove fruitful in undoing the harm the distorted history-telling has caused to the pride of the Indian citizens. Suppressing the self-esteem of the Indians was an agenda of the colonial British regime and distortion of history was one of the means to further it, Modi stated adding all must now come together to ensure history is presented in its truest sense.
Referring to Lachit as the greatest patriot of his era who continue to inspire all to dedicate their lives towards protection of national honour, Modi said Lachit Barphukan’s motto of Nation First is exactly the motto on which the Naya Bharat is being administered. Expressing his gratitude to Modi, Assam’s CM said his presence in the function would be extremely helpful in transforming Lachit Barphukan into a house hold name across the country, like that of Chatrapati Shivaji. Sarma exuded confidence Lachit Barphukan would be accorded his rightful place inhistorical discourses in days to come, as more and more people areintroduced to the valour of the great warrior. He stated that had it not been for Lachit Barphukan, the present geo-politicaland cultural identity of not Assam alone but that of the entire southeast Asia would have been different from what they are today. Sarma expressed hope that the 400th birth anniversary celebration of the great mediaeval erawarrior in New Delhi would be a significant step towards drawing the attention of the currentgeneration intellectuals and historians towards Lachit Barphukan.
In presence of Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Stateminister Pijush Hazarika, Assam legislative assembly speaker Biswajit Daimary, Rajya Sabha member Ranjan Gogoi, Parliamentarian Tapan Gogoi, Sarma also expressed his gratitude towards the people of Assam for their whole hearted support and co-operation in the year-long celebration.