Recently, history writer Balwant Moreshwar Purandare also known as Babasaheb Purandare was conferred with the ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ award, the state’s highest honour, at a sparkling function in Mumbai. The award ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai amidst tight security after the BJP-led state government’s decision to honour Purandare received criticism from some sections of the Maratha community, which had protested against the move. The ceremony was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others. Using the opportunity to take a dig at the opposition, Fadnavis said that those who have been protesting against the government’s decision have not understood Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Fadnavis said that the Maharashtra government would provide financial support to those who make movies focusing on Shivaji’s work as a “management guru”. Meanwhile, protestors claimed that Purandare tarnished the image of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji by casting aspersions on the warrior king’s parentage and the role played by his guru Dadaji Konddev.
In the same function to felicitate Purandare, Fadanvis said that “if such protests had taken place during Shivshahi against honoring Shivshahir like Purandare then Shivaji Maharaj would have pushed him from Takmak Tokk (it means would have killed the protester by throwing him). Strangely, nobody has objected or protested against this statement.
If we go through history of Shivaji Maharaj then you will find that he was a true king with ‘Democratic’ spirit where dissent, difference of opinion or even protest for true convinced views were allowed and tolerated. If you go through the list of people who were thrown from Kadelot point, you will find that all those given death sentence were traitors (Gaddars). Shivaji was a king having patience and courage and give equal rights to people. I’m surprised that BJP leaders are making mockery of Shivaji and there is no outrage about it.
Shivaji was an able administrator who established a government that included modern concepts such as cabinet (Ashtapradhan mandal composed of eight ministers), foreign affairs (Dabir) and internal intelligence. Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of disciplined military and well-structured administrative organisations. He innovated military tactics, pioneering the guerrilla warfare methods (Shiva sutra or ganimi kava), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies. From a small contingent of 2,000 soldiers inherited from his father, Shivaji created a force of 100,000 soldiers. He built and restored strategically located forts both inland and coastal to safeguard his territory. He revived ancient Hindu political traditions and court conventions and promoted the usage of Marathi and Sanskrit, rather than Persian, in court and administration.
Particularly in Maharashtra, debates over his history and role have engendered great passion and sometimes even violence as disparate groups have sought to characterise him and his legacy.
Shivaji remains a political icon in modern India, and particularly in the state of Maharashtra. His image adorns literature, propaganda and icons of the Maratha-centric Shiv Sena (“Army of Shivaji” party, Bharatiya Janata Party and also of the Maratha caste dominated Congress and NCP in Maharashtra. Earlier, Congress party leaders in the state such as Yashwantrao Chavan were considered political descendants of Shivaji. In the recent time, political parties in the country have used name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as per their convenience, to meet their vested interests. Unfortunately, not even a single party has tried to adopt the ideology of Chhatrapati Shivaji. If they would have done so, we would have been able to solve various problems grappling in our society. We see that no political party has made any efforts to bridge the gap between the people.
Chhatrapati Shivaji’s ideology taught us to think above castes and religion. If we follow the religion of humanity, various issues plaguing our society today will be solved automatically. Shivaji never had any disputes with fellow Indians, but these political parties and its leaders have made him a tool in their hands. CM Devendra Fadanvis should possess basic knowledge about Shivaji before speaking in public about him.
