New Delhi /Nagaon :Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah today inaugurated the redevelopment project of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji’s birthplace, Batadrava Than, in Nagaon district of Assam. On this occasion, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, and Minister of State for External Affairs Shri Pabitra Margherita, along with several other dignitaries, were present.
Addressing the program, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Shah said that after years of occupation by infiltrators, the world-famous birthplace of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji in Nagaon has been cleared and fully redeveloped today. He said that coming to the land of Nagaon—where Mahapurush Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji was born and from where he propagated the Neo-Vaishnavite faith not only in Assam but throughout the entire Northeast as a religious tradition—is a matter of great significance for any individual. Remembering Bharat Ratna Gopinath Bordoloi, Shri Shah said that if he had not existed, Assam and the entire Northeast would not have remained part of India. Gopinath Ji compelled the country’s first Prime Minister to keep Assam within India.
Union Home Minister Shri Shah said that an ‘Aavirbhav Kshetra’ of Mahapurush Shankar Dev Ji has also been created at Batadrava Than. He said that where Mahapurush Shankar Dev Ji was born, the message of Neo-Vaishnavism has resounded for centuries. Shri Shah mentioned that the construction of this site has been carried out in three phases. The project involved a cost of more than ₹222 crore and was developed over 162 bighas of land. Shri Shah said that every tradition of Neo-Vaishnavism has been faithfully brought to life on the ground at this site. A meticulous study of all the religious symbols and elements from the Shrimad Bhagavat has been conducted, and they have been given concrete form with great precision and devotion.
Shri Amit Shah said that Batadrava Than is no longer an ordinary place; it has now become a sacred pilgrimage site that connects us to a 500-year-old heritage. The Home Minister said that the groundbreaking ceremony of this project was also performed by his hands-on 26 December 2020, and he has been fortunate enough to receive the privilege of inaugurating it as well. He said that Srimanta Shankar Dev established the Neo-Vaishnavite faith and performed the great task of firmly establishing it throughout the entire Northeast of India.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Shah said that Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji conveyed the message of worshipping God by following the paths described in the Bhagavata, living a virtuous life, and treating this country as one’s motherland on the basis of dharma. He said that this sacred place is not merely a place of worship or a namghar; it is a living symbol of Assamese harmony and goodwill. Shri Shah said that this place will become a centre for advancing Assam’s shared culture and will also serve as a site for collective devotion. It will undoubtedly play a significant role in promoting the ‘Eka Sarana Nama Dharma’ tradition of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji. Mahapurush Shankar Dev Ji gave us the message of both humanity and love for the motherland. He declared that this era is blessed, that human life is inherently great in itself, and that being born on the sacred land of India is the greatest fortune.
Shri Shah said that 500 years ago, Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji gave the message of ‘Ek Bharat’ (One India) to those who wished to break India, a message that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji is advancing today. He said that infiltrators had occupied the sacred place of Shankar Dev Ji— was that right? Shri Shah heartily congratulated Assam Chief Minister Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma for the great work of removing infiltrators from these sacred sites and re-establishing the namghar. He said that this campaign is continuing across the entire state of Assam. More than 1.29 lakh bighas of land have been freed from infiltrators in the state. Even in Kaziranga National Park, infiltrators had encroached, but the Assam government has evicted them. He added that opposition parties had provided protection to these infiltrators for years. While opposition parties spoke about Assam’s culture, in 1983 they enacted the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act—IMDT Act—which gave infiltrators a legal pathway to settle here.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that our resolve is that not only from Assam, but by identifying and selecting from across the entire country, we will work to evict infiltrators. He further said that Assam’s culture was being suppressed under the pressure of these infiltrators, but under the leadership of Modi Ji, here Himanta Biswa Sarma has liberated this culture from the influence of infiltrators. Today, in the namghar, devotional music resounds along with the sounds of mridang and taal.
Shri Shah said that the opposition’s government remained in power for so many years, but they did nothing for the martyrs of the Assam Movement. However, the present state government has constructed a grand ‘Swahid Smarak Kshetra’ (Martyrs’ Memorial) in memory of the martyrs of the Assam Movement. He stated that the people of Assam will never forget 70 years of such a neglect. He said that under the leadership of Modi Ji, 11 types of development works have been carried out for the development of the entire Northeast and especially Assam. In Assam, the first five years were under the leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal Ji, and now five years under the leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma—the last 10 years will prove to be a golden era for the development of Assam.
Union Home Minister Shri Shah said that Prime Minister Modi has visited the Northeast a total of 80 times and Assam 36 times in the last 11 years. He said that if there is any individual who has consistently marked his presence in the Northeast and Assam, it is our Modi Ji. He added that the opposition party had sent their former Prime Minister to the Rajya Sabha from Assam, but in 10 years, he visited Assam only 7 times—of which two visits were solely to submit his Rajya Sabha nomination papers. For them, the reconstruction of Assam, Assam’s culture, development, and peace remained merely subjects for speeches. Shri Shah said that for years, various types of movements have taken place in Assam, where our youth, with guns in their hands, continued to spill rivers of blood. However, under the leadership of Modi Ji, the Government of India signed the Bodo Accord in 2020, the Karbi Accord in 2021, the Adivasi Accord in 2022, the DNLA Accord in 2023, and the ULFA Accord also in 2023. He said that in Assam, which once echoed with bomb blasts, today our ears are purified by the name-remembrance of Srimanta Shankar Dev Ji. He stated that over these 11 years, Shri Narendra Modi Ji has taken many steps for peace in Assam and the Northeast, and these accords have not remained only on paper—92 percent of the issues included in all five accords have already been resolved. If our government is formed once again, we will ensure 100 percent resolution of all the issues.