‘When I was 7, I was taught about him’: Amit Shah inaugurates police academy named after Lachit Barphukan in Assam

Stating that once completed, this will become the best police academy in the country, Shah said he appreciated the government’s decision to rename it.

“This great warrior made Assam victorious against the Mughals, and I congratulate the Assam government. When I was seven, I was taught about Lachit Barphukan’s personality. But by the time I did my graduation, not one book about Lachit Barphukan was there in any government course. He was contained to just Assam. Today, Lachit Barphukan’s biography is now translated into 23 languages and is in libraries across the country… In history textbooks in eight states, Lachit Barphukan is included today because of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s efforts,” said Shah, addressing a public gathering after the inauguration.

The BJP government under Chief Minister Sarma has championed the cause of Lachit Barphukan, who had led the troops at the Battle of Saraighat, as a “national hero” who was an important foil to the Mughals along the lines of Shivaji. This has included mega celebrations in Assam and Delhi to mark his 400th birth anniversary in 2022 and the erection of a 125-foot bronze statue of him at his burial site in Jorhat.

With Assam assembly elections a year away, Shah said that the upcoming semiconductor assembly and test facility in the state and commitments made by investors at the Assam government’s recent investment summit “will change Assam’s future”.

“In the Assam which was once discussed for agitations, gunfire and terrorism, today the work of setting up the most modern industry – semiconductors – has also happened… Along with MoUs worth Rs 5 lakh crore signed at Advantage Assam, the Modi government is additionally bringing infrastructure projects worth another 3 lakh crore. It used to be said that Assam’s children would have to go somewhere else in the country to work. Today, men from across the country will come to work in Assam; that is the kind of situation being built,” he said.