Pune: The Sambhaji Brigade, a pro-Maratha outfit, has demanded the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to immediately install a statue of Maratha warrior King Sambhaji (son of Shivaji) in place of a bust of eminent Marathi playwright Ram Ganesh Gadkari in Sambhaji Park.
Santosh Shinde, a member of the Brigade, said the outfit would stage “a massive demonstration” outside the PMC building on May 4, in view of the civic administration’s “tardy response” to the outfit’s demands, and “more than 5,000 activists” are expected to join the outfit in the demonstration.
“We submitted a detailed list of our demands and grievances to the new Pune mayor, Mukta Tilak, a fortnight ago. She assured us that she would discuss the matter with leaders from all political parties in the House and take a decision. However, no concrete action has been taken,” said Mr. Shinde, speaking to The Hindu .
In January this year, R.G. Gadkari’s bust, a fixture in the Sambhaji Park since its installation in 1962, was vandalised by four activists of the Brigade, on grounds that the early 20th century playwright had allegedly ‘defamed’ King Sambhaji by portraying him as a compulsive alcoholic and a womaniser in his unfinished play Raj Sanyas . The activists had thrown Gadkari’s bust in the Mula river after uprooting it from the park.
The bust was later retrieved from the river, but the PMC has refrained from re-installing it owing to pressure on the Brigade’s part.
The outfit defended their act by claiming that a bust of the playwright “should have no place in a park named after Sambhaji.”
The controversial act has since led to a bout of statue politics with members of the Brahman Mahasangh, backed by a city-based BJP legislator, installing a photo frame of Gadkari in place of his uprooted bust. Both, the Brigade, and political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena, have traded barbs on the matter, with each accusing the other of dividing society along caste lines by pitting the Maratha and the Brahmin sections against each other.
Mr. Shinde said the outfit has urged the PMC to take up the issue with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a bid to bring the matter to a speedy resolution. “We will also be submitting a resolution to Pune Guardian Minister and BJP leader Girish Bapat on the issue,” he said.
May 14 will witness the 360th birth anniversary of Sambhaji. “The purpose of our demonstration on May 4 is to ensure that the PMC and the State government takes serious notice of our long-pending demand. We have no objection if Gadkari’s bust is re-installed in the neighbouring Bal Gandharva or shifted to any other place,” Mr. Shinde said.
