Congress slams Yogi Adityanath for ‘distorting' history of Srimanta Sankardeva

GUWAHATI: The Congress slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his statement that Assam’s medieval saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva had alerted people to the problem of illegal immigration.

“It is a matter of happiness for us that it is also the land of Sankardeva. He was one of the leading luminaries of India’s cultural nationalism. This land was saved because of him. If Congress had succeeded with its diplomacy and politics of appeasement, this land would have created a problem for India like how the infiltrators posed a threat to national security…

“Sankaradeva alerted people to the problem of illegal immigration. That’s why Congress has never tolerated him. Congress’s policy has never been development, progress, or your welfare but appeasement to capture power. The people of Assam have paid a price for it for a long time,” Adityanath said addressing a crowd at a rally at Hojai in Assam’s Nagaon district on Wednesday.

The Congress slammed him for his “ignorance”.

“This proves how much they know about the culture they claim they are going to protect. While Yogi ji talks about the much-revered 15th century saint fighting against infiltrators, he should know exactly what Srimanta Sankardeva fought against,” Bobbeeta Sharma, who is the chairperson of Pradesh Congress Committee’s media department, said.

She said Sankardeva was against the exploitation of people by those who followed the ideologies and dogmas laid down by Manusmriti and also idol worship. He believed in the assimilation of society and was against the caste system, she said.

“Yogi needs lessons in history as does the PM (Narendra Modi) who said Lachit Barphukan was a freedom fighter. Lachit Barphukan was an Ahom general who fought the famous battle of Saraighat in 1671. The BJP keeps talking about Srimanta Sankardeva and Bir Lachit Barphukan at the drop of a hat, yet they do not know who they were or what they stood for. The APCC would like to gift some history books to Sri Modi and Sri Adityanath ji,” the Congress leader said.

She added: “The BJP just talks in the air and thinks that the people of Assam do not notice anything. They are trying to impose Nagpur culture on the Assamese people and the people of Assam know very well how Nagpur culture can engulf and destroy Assamese culture.”

A polymath, poet, playwright, socio-religious reformer, Sankardeva is credited with devising new forms of music, theatrical performance, dance (Sattriya), literary language (Brajavali), etc.

Recently, Modi referred to the 17th century Ahom general Lachit Borphukan, who had fought the Mughals in the Battle of Saraighat, as a “freedom fighter” at a function to launch the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.