The Shiv Sena and the BJP went government bashing on Monday, following the forceful immersion of Ganesh idols by the police at Miraj in Sangli district. A welcome arch, put up by the Sangli district head of the Sena, depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji killing Bijapur general Afzal Khan, triggered tension during the festival.
Last Wednesday, a group pelted the arch with stones, forcing the district administration to remove it. A day later, it was immersion day, but the 60 Ganesh mandals at Miraj refused to immerse the idols unless the arch was reinstalled. The police served notices on them, urging them to complete the rituals within a stipulated time. Most of the smaller mandals complied, but the four prominent ones kept their idols in the pandals. So, the police took it upon themselves to immerse them.
Reacting to the police action, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray came out with a hard-hitting editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna on Monday. “Was Afzal Khan a relative of the government,” he asked. “The government has planned to erect a memorial of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea. At the same time, it is trying to erase history in Miraj. Had it not been for Shivaji Maharaj, we all would have been reading namaaz today.” Thackeray went on to appeal to the people to put up similar posters across the state.
The BJP too has planned to burn effigies of the government on Tuesday. “The Congress and the NCP has planned to spread tension in Miraj,” said BJP state president Nitin Gadkari.
“The Muslims in Miraj did not have any objection to the Afzal Khan poster. Still, the police removed it. It is a historical fact that Shivaji Maharaj killed Khan. Does the government want to change history? Does it want a poster showing Maharaj and Afzal Khan kissing each other? The government has not only insulted Shivaji Maharaj, but the Hindus too.”
