New Delhi, Delhi /Guwahati, Assam, 29th of December, 2025 : Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri 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 Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri 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 Amit 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 Amit 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 Amit 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 Amit 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 Shri 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 Shri 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 Amit 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 Amit 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.
Shri Amit Shah said that a large number of initiatives have been undertaken under the Modi government to promote culture. He said that today more than 11,000 artists performed the Bihu dance together, which is being watched not only by India but by the entire world. By getting ‘Charaideo Maidam’ included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, efforts have been made to bring tourists from across the globe to Assam. He said that earlier Lachit Borphukan was known only in Assam, but Prime Minister Modi worked to make him known across the entire country. He said that earlier, the heroic saga of Lachit Borphukan Ji was limited only to Assam; our government has taken his life story to the entire country and the world by translating it into 23 languages. He added that the Modi government and the government led by Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma also worked to secure a GI tag for the ‘Gamosa’. He further said that the 16th-century ‘Vrindavani Vastra’, which depicts all episodes from Lord Krishna’s childhood in Vrindavan and was, in a way, designed by Srimanta Sankardeva, has also been popularized across the country through exhibitions by Prime Minister Modi.
Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that today, the entire world flocks to see Assam’s Bogibeel Bridge. We have completed the work of converting the 85-kilometer Kaliabor-Numaligarh section of NH-715 in Assam into a four-lane highway at a cost of ₹7,000 crore. We have sanctioned the Silchar-Churaibari Corridor at a cost of ₹3,400 crore. The 166.80-kilometer road from Meghalaya to Panchgram in Assam has been sanctioned at a cost of ₹22,864 crore. The construction of India’s largest rail-cum-road Bogibeel Bridge has been completed at a cost of ₹6,000 crore. The four-lane Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge over the Brahmaputra River has been started at a cost of ₹5,000 crore. The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge was completed in 2017 at a cost of ₹2,000 crore. Under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), 19 road and bridge projects have been initiated at a cost of ₹646 crore. Another six-lane bridge over the Brahmaputra is under construction. Assam’s connectivity is also being strengthened through railways, airways, and several waterways. He further said that at a cost of approximately ₹8,000 crore, the Government of India has undertaken work under the Jal Marg Vikas Project to enable passengers from across the country to reach Assam via waterways. The 84-foot-high statue of Lachit Borphukan has been completed. India’s first indigenously built cruise ship, ‘MV Ganga Vilas’, has completed its journey from Varanasi to Dibrugarh. Several medical colleges, including AIIMS, have been established, and Navodaya Vidyalayas have been opened. PM Modi has dedicated a 750-bed AIIMS in Assam, constructed at a cost of approximately ₹1,123 crore.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that a Tata semiconductor unit is being set up in Assam at a cost of ₹27,000 crore. Along with this, a new Ammonia-Urea Complex is being constructed within the premises of Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) at a cost of ₹10,601 crore, with a production capacity of 13 lakh metric tonnes of urea per year. In addition, a large number of private industries are coming to Assam. He said that Assam has now become a land of development instead of agitation. At one time in Delhi, Assam was considered a state that created problems, but today Assam has become the growth engine of the entire Northeast and is leading the country on the path of development. He said that this transformation has taken place over the last 11 years under Prime Minister Modi’s government and during the ten-year tenure of his party’s government in Assam. Shri Shah said that the opposition allowed infiltrators to enter, undermined Assam’s culture to expand its vote bank, and worked to damage the state’s values, literature, traditions, and overall cultural heritage. Shri Amit Shah appealed to the people of the state to give his party’s government another chance, saying that it is their resolve to completely free Assam from infiltrators. Those who view infiltrators as a vote bank cannot do this. Shri Shah said that his party believes infiltrators pose a very serious threat to the country’s security and to Assam’s culture.
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