Nothing wrong if people look at Sambhaji Maharaj’s contribution in different ways: Sharad Pawar

Controversy broke last month when Pawar’s nephew and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said in the Maharashtra Assembly: “We always refer to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj as ‘Swarajya Rakshak’. But some people are calling him ‘Dharmaveer’. It is incorrect as Sambhaji Maharaj never championed the cause of any particular religion. His sacrifice and work were for national welfare.”

It drew sharp reactions, with the BJP calling it an insult to Sambhaji Maharaj.

“If some people in society remember Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’s contribution as protector of Swarajya, there is nothing wrong with that,” Sharad Pawar told reporters at Baramati.

“If some elements call him Dharmaveer and look at his work from the religious angle, I do not have any complaint about it either,” he added.

But he was worried about some people complaining about not using the epithet Dharma rakshak or Dharmaveer, Pawar said. “There was no reason to get into argument over such issues.”

Those who call Sambhaji Maharaj ‘Swarajya Rakshak’ are acknowledging his role in protecting the state from invaders after the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Pawar said.

Meanwhile, for the second day in a row, BJP staged protests against Ajit Pawar.
BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, after a bike rally in Thane, said: “Ajit Pawar’s statements are insulting and embarrassing for Maharashtra. To say that Sambhaji Maharaj was not Dharmaveer. Even children who have read books know this. Reading accounts of what happened to him brings us to tears.”

“NCP is not a nationalist party anymore, they have embraced Mughalshahi,” he added.

In Dadar, BJP workers sprinkled gaumutra on the photographs of Ajit Pawar. BJP leader Nitesh Rane destroyed Pawar’s effigies in Sindhudurg, and immersed them in a river, following which BJP workers raised slogans condemning the NCP leader.

—WITH PTI INPUTS