NEW DELHI, Nov 30: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday suggested that Union government should encourage states to research upon and compile the history of local heroes of freedom struggle from across the country.
Speaking at an event organised in the remembrance of Shaheed Raja Vijay Singh and his brave men at the village Kunja Bahadur in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, the VP emphasised on publishing this history in local languages so as to reach the maximum people.
Mr Naidu recalled the heroic story of the people of Kunja Bahadur who rose against the British with their king Vijay Singh.
The Vice President said Raja Vijay Singh and his men made supreme sacrifice for the cause of freedom in 1824, three decades before the first war for independence in 1857, but it is an irony that the stories like Kunja Bahadurpur remain ignored in our history.
“Our history is incomplete without the bravery of these heroes,”he said. Mentioning the names of legendary warriors from Uttarakhand such as Ram Pyari Gurjar, Rani Karnawati, Shahmal Singh Tomar and teenage warrior Shivdevi Tomar, Mr Naidu said,”our history has been witness to many a struggle wherein people rose against the invaders under the leadership of local heroes to defend their freedom, honour, culture and property.”
“But these resistances hardly find any mention in our history,” he said, adding that “we need to rectify this mistake.”
He also stressed the need to make such stories mandatory part of our school syllabus so that the new generation can draw inspiration from them. The Vice President also called for developing a nationalistic approach to our history and research new sources for it. History does not belong to just the rulers, rather it belongs to the people and communities as well, he said emphasising the need to study local cultural, literary and social history. Mr Naidu said that heroic stories of local communities are transmitted from generation to generation by oral tradition and form an inseparable part of their being. “Local educational institutions, civil society organizations and media should do serious research on these oral traditions of history telling and to make the whole country aware of them,” he said.
Saying that our history is indebted to the great sacrifices made by our ancestors such as Raja Vijay Singh and his general Shaheed Kalyan Singh, he appealed to the younger generation to respect and follow their ideals.
Talking about the 70th Constitution Day celebrated earlier this week, the Vice President also called for equal respect for Fundamental Duties along with the Fundamental Rights. He reminded the people of fundamental duty ‘to strive towards excellence in all spheres’ and said that country’s progress depends on each one of us excelling in our respective fields. He also urged people to spread awareness about fundamental duties in their community, educational institution and professional circles. This will be true tribute to our brave ancestors who sacrificed their everything so that we could breath in a free India, he said.
Putting national integrity above everything else, the Vice President appealed to all citizens to rise above cast, creed, religion and region and to work together for the progress of country. On the occasion, he also appreciated the unity displayed by all communities after the Ayodhya verdict by the Supreme Court. (UNI)
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