Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, 13 September 2026, inaugurated the 'Ganesh Gyanarthi Exhibition' organised by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, using the occasion to call for a national effort to preserve and research India's ancient knowledge traditions. Shah stressed that civilisations which fail to protect their history and cultural memory are destined to decline, regardless of their present power.

Key Remarks by the Home Minister

Speaking at the inauguration, Shah said that 'many forces' had attempted over centuries to erase India's intellectual heritage — describing it as knowledge 'ready to guide the world' — but had ultimately failed. He argued that a nation which safeguards its 'smriti', history, values, language, records and traditions cannot be truly enslaved, no matter how long it remains under external domination.

Shah added that he had come to the Asiatic Society 'not as a Minister but as a participant in the movement to carry forward the Indian knowledge tradition for thousands of years.' He also noted that India's knowledge had long been articulated through a colonial lens, designed, in his view, to instil 'a collective inferiority complex' and erode public self-confidence.

Gyan Bharatam Mission and the Road Ahead

The Home Minister outlined a three-pronged agenda for the Asiatic Society's expansion. First, he urged the Society to fully integrate its manuscript holdings with the Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Mission launched by the Government of India. Second, he called for a state-wide campaign to collect ancestral documents from villages across Maharashtra and from the homes of scholars, linking them to the Gyan Bharatam Manuscript Survey. Third, he proposed dedicated research arrangements for all departments associated with manuscripts held at the institution.

Shah recounted that at an earlier informal meeting of the mission, a Jain monk had asserted that the manuscripts contained 'the seed to make India the best in the world in economic and defence terms.' He called for structured research to unlock that potential.

Government Support and Maharashtra's Role

Shah disclosed that he had spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about empowering the Asiatic Society, and affirmed that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the Centre would continue providing 'every possible support and cooperation' to the institution. He described Maharashtra as the land of the 'Saraswats', saying the primacy of knowledge is already inherent in its cultural energy.

Vision for a Shared National Repository

Shah envisioned a connected network linking similar institutions from every village, town and state across India with the Asiatic Society of Mumbai — creating a shared knowledge repository accessible to students, researchers and scholars nationwide. This comes amid the Centre's broader push to document and digitise India's manuscript heritage under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, which has been expanding its scope in recent months.