Though protests against Purandare’s writing started some 25 years back, he came under heavy shelling after author James Laine’s book, ‘Hindu King in Islamic India’, came out in 2004. Neither did he give any clarifications nor tried to explain why such objectionable paragraphs were allowed to continue…It hurts us it hurts the followers of the king not only in Maharashtra but across the world,” says Shinde. “Despite our protests, Purandare had steadfastly refused to remove them. Though some of the paragraphs were removed by Purandare from his books, a few others “which damage the image of Shivaji and his mother and lower their standing in public eye still remain”, says Shinde. We have, in the past, registered our strong protests against these incorrect writings and demanded their removal from his books,” he says.Īlso read | Babasaheb Purandare, ‘Shivaji’s Bard’ who brought him alive through stories But yes, we do not accept certain pages of his books, which distort the history relating to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his mother. We also do not want to belittle his efforts in creating awareness on Shivaji era as he roamed several forts for years and presented history before the people.
“We don’t entirely reject his writings… it’s not possible as he has highlighted several factual events from history. Even as the Pune unit of Sambhaji Brigade continued to aggressively oppose his writings, Purandare refused to meet its leaders or hold any dialogue with them on the objections they raised.Īnother Maratha community leader, Pravin Gaikwad, state organiser of Sambhaji Brigade, has a different take though. The organisation had also strongly opposed the state government move to honour him with Maharashtra Bhushan award in 2015. Our protests against him ends with his death but objections to writings remain as he has twisted history relating to the Maratha warrior,” says Santosh Shinde, Pune organiser of Sambhaji Brigade, which had been staging protests opposing Purandare’s writings. But we are not against Purandare as an individual. “Our opposition to the writings of Purandare on the life and times of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj still remains and will continue in the future as well.
0 kommentar(er)
