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Mahabrawl!
Maratha brigade is furious that historian Babasaheb Purandare, a Brahmin, will decide the
content of the huge Shivaji memorial that will be built on the Arabian sea of Mumbai coast, on
the lines of the Statue of Liberty.

By Devidas Deshpande
Posted On Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Marathas shot back promptly, and said Raj’s attack would be met with equal force.
This statue is threatening to erect a wall between Marathas and Brahmins.
Even before a real plan can be drawn out to build a Statute of Liberty-like sculpture of
Shivaji on the Arabian sea overlooking Mumbai, daggers have been drawn between
Marathas and Brahmins.
The controversy over the international
Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial takes a new turn
everyday. Aday after Chief Minister Ashok
Chavan defended historian Babasaheb
Purandare’s appointment to the advisory panel
of the memorial, the Maratha ‘brigade’ has
alleged that the CM is misleading the public.
The Maratha leaders are unhappy that the
committee that would decide on the actual
sculpture and other historically important issues
would be headed by Purandare. Since they feel
that Purandare is pro-Brahmin, it would alter the
image of Shivaji into a pro-Brahmin leader. They
feel Chavan had “misrepresented” them by
assuring that he would be chairman of the panel, as the content of the project would be
decided by Purandare.
Maratha organisations also criticised NCP chief Sharad Pawar and dared Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray to fight alone. Raj Thackeray is in the thick of
action because he has portrayed himself as Purandare’s guardian angel.
Maratha leaders have warned if the proposed memorial came up with images and
statues as suggested by Purandare, they would not hesitate to destroy the memorial.
They hit back at Raj Thackeray and said that his threat of a physical fight would be met
with equal force by them. “Activists of our organisation and workers of MNS both come
from the Maratha community. Therefore, it is in our interest to avoid friction. But I tell you
this, if Raj is willing to fight, he should come alone and our activists will face him head
on,” Anant Chonde, state president of Sambhaji Brigade, said.
Chavan had announced on May 21 that the government would set up an international
quality memorial dedicated to Shivaji. Babasaheb Purandare, who is famous for
narrating tales of Shivaji, was accommodated in the committee set up by the
government and made chairman. This angered Maratha organisations, as they are of
the opinion that Purandare is “maligning and misinforming people about Shivaji’s life”.
Vinayak Mete of Shivsangram, a Maratha organisation, and Purushottam Khedekar,
president of the Maratha Seva Sangh (MSS) are especially furious and have said that if
Purandare’s appointment wasn’t cancelled, the historian would be ‘attacked’.
This prompted Raj Thackeray to issue a statement wherein he said “thousands of
hands would rise” if Purandare was attacked. Raj is close to Purandare. It was
Purandare who had attempted unsuccessfully but vigorously to mediate between Raj
and Balasaheb Thackeray when they had fallen out over leadership of the Shiv Sena.
Raj has said that Purandare was being targeted only because he was a Brahmin. He
said that it was not Purandare’s fault that he was born a Brahmin. He also said that
Shivaji’s history cannot be changed on the whims of Maratha leaders.
Meanwhile, the CM also derided Maratha leaders saying he was the chairman of
committee and that leaders were creating unnecessary trouble.
It was the Sambhaji Brigade, an offshoot of MSS, who on Saturday alleged that Chavan
was misguiding the public. “The CM is the
chairman of the main committee of the
memorial project. However, the committee
responsible for erecting statues and murals at
the future memorial site is presided over by
Purandare. He has consistently created a false
image of Shivaji, which favours Brahmins. That
is why we are opposing it. We are against the
cultural terrorism being inflicted on
Maharashtra,” said Pravin Gaikwad, the state
executive president of Sambhaji Brigade.

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He said the CM was maintaining that Purandare
was chairman of the main committee that
looked after the logistics of the memorial and
not the content falsely.
Dwelling on Raj’s outburst, Gaikwad said, “Our demand is a cultural one. But these
leaders are politicising it. Raj should not have jumped into the debate as whatever we
said against Purandare was more at a symbolic level. But in a democracy, every
decision is made with political overtones. We cannot avoid it. Raj should understand
that our clash is not with him or Purandare but with the state government,” he said.
Purandare is yet to respond to the allegations. His family members have said he does
not wish to speak as he is unwell.
Sharad Pawar on Friday had warned Maratha leaders that Shivaji did not belong to any
one community and, hence, attempts should not be made to take political advantage in
his name. Reacting to this statement, Gaikwad said, “Pawar is himself a Maratha. He
can’t criticise us. If he points a finger at us, he should first see that he is also a part of
the community and can’t escape the blame.”
Major Maratha complaints against Brahmin Purandare
Purandare eulogised Swami Ramdas, Dadoji Konddeo, Gaga Bhatt, all Brahmins,
without concrete proof
Purandare is close to the RSS
He changed his stand on the issue of Shivaji’s birth date, accepted Feb 19 as the day,
as decided by a state panel of which he was a part. He later backtracked and formally
said the date should be as per the Hindu calendar
He portrayed Shivaji as a defender of Brahmins, sidelining supporters, fighters of other
castes in Shivaji’s army
Wrong history taught to students in state owing to misrepresentations by Purandare
Copyright 2008 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. . All rights reserved.

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