Daily News and Analysis
7 June 2009
Stop distorting history: Sena
Kiran Tare
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Saturday once again came down heavily on Maratha organisations for "creating a rift in society using the name of Shivaji Maharaj". Party executive president Uddhav Thackeray questioned the intention of the Maratha leaders, and said that Marathas who had surrendered to Muslim organisations did not have a right to talk about Brahmin legends.
Thackeray took objection to the removal of Dadoji Konddev's name as Shivaji's teacher from school textbooks. "The Congress-NCP government has altered history under pressure from communal organisations," he said in a statement. "People who can tolerate to have Afzal Khan and Aurangzeb's graves worshipped, should not talk against Dadoji Konddev and Samarth Ramdas."
The Maratha organisations claimed that Dadoji Konddev was not Shivaji's teacher. Following their opposition, the government removed his name from history books, DNA had first revealed on Saturday.
Thackeray upbraided Maratha leaders for "distorting history". "When a pure Maratha, Babasaheb Bhosale, was chief minister, a sentence like 'Shivaji Maharaj spilled Afzal Khan's blood and entrails on the ground' was removed from textbooks under pressure from Muslim organisations. They had taken exception to Shivaji's bravery.
Where were these Maratha organisations at that time?" he asked.
"Congress leaders bow to Aurangzeb's grave in Aurangabad. He was the person who brutally killed Sambhaji Maharaj. The Shiv Sena is fighting to rename Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar, but the Maratha organisations do not support us. They fight to remove Dadoji Konddev's name. Then why are they holding back when it comes to Afzal Khan or Aurangzeb?," Thackeray said.
Political observers believe the recent controversies over two Brahmin dignitaries--Babasaheb Purandare and Dadoji Konddev-- is an attempt by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to attract traditional Maratha voters ahead of the Assembly elections. "The results of recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls proved that the NCP has lost some ground in its one-time bastion, western Maharashtra. The party has now resorted to gimmicks to attract traditional voters, though some top party leaders are not in favour of that," an observer said.
A Sena official said they were aware of the NCP's 'tactics'. "After the Parliamentary elections, it has been established that the Sena-BJP alliance got support from the OBCs. A fraction of the Marathas also supported us. The NCP knows this, and is therefore trying to woo our Maratha supporters," he added.
"The Sena is trying to gain political mileage from the Maratha vs Brahmin dispute. The state government had removed Dadoji Konddev's name from the state sports award last year. The award previously known as the Dadoji Konddev Puraskar is now called the Sarvottam Krida Margadarshak Puraskar (Best Sports Coach award). The Sena did not raise its voice at that time," the observer pointed out.
THE TURN OF EVENTS
The controversy over the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Monument centres around the demand for reservation by the Maratha community. While the Maratha organisations want political reservation, the state has only assured reservation in education and government jobs. Initially,Maratha organisation objected veteran historian Babasaheb Purandare's appointment as advisor in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Smarak consulting committee. Following protests, chief minister Ashok Chavan announced he was the head of the consulting committee and would take suggestions from all sections of society.
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