Group demands quick action on Konddeo statue

TNN, Aug 28, 2010, 04.22am IST

PUNE: The Shivpremi Jan Jagaran Samiti ( SJJS), an umbrella organisation of 17 groups, said on Friday that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should remove Dadoji Konddeo's statue from Lal Mahal. Shrimant Kokate, a member of the state government-appointed committee of historians in 2008 to study the claims of a section of historians that Konddeo was Chhatrapati Shivaji's guru, said, "The committee was appointed by the governor's ordinance. While members Ninad Bedekar and G B Mehandale expressed their inability to work, others including A R Kulkarni, Anuradha Ranade, A H Salunkhe, Jaising Pawar, Vasant More, Gandhar Banbare, Chandrashekhar Shikhare and Praveen Gaikwad concluded that there was no evidence to prove that Dadoji was Chhatrapati Shivaji's guru." "Kulkarni was unable to attend the committee meetings due to ill health. However, he gave a written opinion that there was not a single piece of evidence to prove that Konddeo was Shivaji's guru. He was also surprised that the state government had instituted an award in Konddeo's name when he had played no role in guiding Shivaji. Subsequently, the state government made changes in history textbooks and also stopped awards instituted in Konddeo's name." The samiti's member Mukund Kakade said, "When the committee has come to the conclusion and the state government has accepted it, there is no point in the PMC appointing another committee of historians." Another samiti member Dnyaneshwar Darvatkar said, "The claims made by PMC leaders that the civic body had approved the resolution to erect statues at Lal Mahal is false. The resolution approved in June 2000 was about the inauguration of the statues and not erecting them." Konddeo's statue is part of a sculpture depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji, along with Jijamata, tilling the soil of Pune with a golden plough at Lal Mahal. "There is a link between the statue of Dadoji coming up along with Jijamata and Shivaji in 2000 and the derogatory remarks in James Laine's book. The PMC should not test the patience of Shivbhaktas. The statue must be removed immediately," said Kokate. Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal had, on Wednesday, said that the statue would be removed within 24 hours. However, on Thursday, he said the decision will be taken after a committee of historians to be appointed by the civic body, submits its report.