Amit Shah inaugurates ‘Ganesh Gyanarthi Exhibition’ in Mumbai

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday inaugurated the ‘Ganesh Gyanarthi Exhibition’ organised by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, calling for the preservation, digitisation and wider dissemination of India’s rich knowledge traditions.Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Asiatic Society of Mumbai President Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe were among those present at the event, according to agency reports.
Addressing the gathering, Shah said he had come to the Asiatic Society not merely as the Union Home Minister but as a participant in the effort to carry forward India’s knowledge tradition, which has evolved over thousands of years. He expressed confidence that the Society would emerge as an important bearer of this tradition and help disseminate it across the country.

Mumbai, Maharashtra: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "Today, I have come here intending to speak very briefly, but I definitely want to speak about the word 'Indology'.To understand the Asiatic Society, one must also understand the term 'Indology'.Numismatics, epigraphy,… pic.twitter.com/0m3eO1Pf0o

— IANS (@ians_india) September 13, 2026

Shah emphasised that a nation that fails to preserve its memory, history, values, language, records and traditions cannot sustain itself for long. Referring to India’s ancient intellectual heritage, he said repeated attempts to erase the country’s knowledge traditions had failed.Citing the destruction of the Nalanda library, Shah said physical collections could be destroyed, but knowledge preserved through traditions of Shruti and Smriti could not be eliminated.Need to Reinterpret India’s Knowledge From an Indian Perspective
Shah said understanding the Asiatic Society also requires an understanding of ‘Indology’, covering fields such as history, archaeology, linguistics, philosophy, literature, theology and grammar.He said India’s knowledge had often been presented through a colonial perspective that weakened the self-confidence of Indians. With India having been independent for more than eight decades, he said its vast knowledge repositories must now be used for the welfare of the country, the world and humanity.
The Home Minister also called for the compilation of ‘Kane Samagra’, based on the works of Bharat Ratna Pandurang Vaman Kane, and said it should be made accessible to future generations.
Shah said decolonisation does not mean erasing history, but presenting it in a complete and authentic manner from an Indian perspective.He said the Asiatic Society possesses rare collections, including illustrations of the Mahabharata, the Jain Kalpasutra and rare Buddhist texts, which should be brought to wider public attention.Shah also stressed that knowledge should remain free from ideological control and should form the basis for creating power and governing the country.
Highlighting Maharashtra’s association with knowledge traditions, Shah called upon the Asiatic Society to expand its repository and fully link its manuscript collections with the Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Mission.He also suggested a campaign to collect ancestral documents and manuscripts from villages across Maharashtra and from the homes of scholars, and connect them with the Gyan Bharatam Manuscript Survey.Shah said research facilities should be established for the Society’s manuscripts, noting that their knowledge could contribute significantly to India’s future development.
Shah said he had asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to empower the Asiatic Society and added that the Union Government would continue to provide support to the institution.He proposed linking institutions preserving India’s heritage across villages, towns and states with the Asiatic Society to create a common repository of knowledge.
Such a repository, Shah said, would make India’s vast intellectual heritage accessible to students, researchers and scholars across the country.