Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that decolonisation of India’s history and knowledge does not mean erasing the country’s past, but presenting historical truth to the world in an authentic manner from an Indian perspective. He said India’s rich intellectual and cultural heritage must be preserved, documented and made accessible to people within the country and abroad. Shah made the remarks after inaugurating a manuscript exhibition at the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. Speaking on the importance of preserving India’s historical and knowledge traditions, he said Indian knowledge systems, history, traditions, languages, manuscripts and archives represent an important part of the country’s heritage.

He stressed that these resources should be protected and taken to people across the country and the world so that India’s historical and intellectual contributions can be better understood. “Decolonisation does not mean erasing history. From our perspective, it means presenting historical truth to the world in an authentic manner and from an Indian perspective,” Shah said. His remarks sought to distinguish the idea of decolonisation from an attempt to remove or rewrite historical events. Instead, he described it as an effort to ensure that India’s history is presented through what he called an authentic Indian perspective.

The Home Minister also spoke about the relationship between knowledge and power during the period of British rule. He said the British had intertwined knowledge and power, suggesting that systems of knowledge had been shaped within a colonial framework. According to Shah, the task now is to move beyond that framework and make efforts to preserve and present India’s own intellectual traditions. “Today, we are moving forward to liberate knowledge from that and towards decolonisation,” he said.

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The emphasis on manuscripts and archives also highlighted the role of historical records in preserving India’s intellectual heritage. Manuscripts can contain material relating to languages, literature, philosophy, traditions and knowledge systems that have developed over generations. Shah said such resources need to be preserved and taken to a wider audience, both nationally and internationally. The objective, as outlined in his remarks, is to ensure that India’s historical material remains accessible while its significance is explained from an Indian viewpoint.

Shah’s comments come amid a broader emphasis on documenting and showcasing India’s cultural and historical heritage. By referring to knowledge, history, traditions, languages, manuscripts and archives together, he underlined the importance of treating historical preservation as a wider effort rather than focusing on individual records or institutions. His remarks at the Asiatic Society of Mumbai placed the preservation of India’s knowledge traditions alongside the question of how the country’s history is interpreted and communicated. He reiterated that, in his view, decolonisation should involve presenting historical truth authentically rather than erasing the past.

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