The trend of statues and memorials of the iconic kings and leaders is flourishing in India. So is the case of the 17th century great Maratha King, Chhatrapati Shivaji. His birth anniversary, as recognized by the Government of Maharashtra, is on 19 February. Shivaji has been a real God for Maharashra where all the present day rulers, irrespective of any political party, swear by his name, though they may interpret his concept of Hindavi Swaraj as per their convenience. Right from the day of independence, Mantralaya, the seat of the state government in Mumbai, does everything in the name of Shivaji. Even in 1966 when Bal Thackeray and others floated Shiv Sena, a regional political party inspired by Balasaheb Desai, the then Congress Minister, they continue to claim following Shivshahi for the welfare of the people. An ardent follower of Adolf Hitler and his concept of benevolent dictatorship, late Thackeray openly claimed that he did not believe in Lokshahi but preferred Thokshahi. Till 1984, the Shiv Sena continued to support Congress party, even the Emergency imposed by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Later preferred to join the Hindu band-wagon lead by the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Of late, to claim closeness to Chhatrpati Shivaji, both the Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) lead by Sharad Pawar and BJP lead by Narendra Modi preferred to send the descendents of Shivaji to the Parliament, Udayan Raje Bhosle of Satara to Lok Sabha and Shambhaji Raje Bhonsle of Kolhapur to Raj Sabha respectively.
The present BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra raised the original Rs.300 Crore proposal of the previous Congress-NCP government to Rs. 3,600 Crore to establish a 192-metre- tall statue of the iconic Maratha king, Chhatrpati Shivaji, 1.5 KM off the coast in Arabian Sea near Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed “jalpoojan” and laid the foundation for the mega-memorial of Shivaji on 24 December 2016. Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis along with Shiv Sena Chief, Uddhav Thackeray, and both the descendents of Maharaj, Udayan Raje and Shambhaji Raje, accompanied the PM in the hovercraft. Credited with setting up an Empire fighting the Mughals and other Muslim rulers, Shivaji espoused the ideology of Hindavi Swaraj. The description put forward by Colonel Anil Athale (Retd.) presents perfect picture of Shivaji and his Hindavi Swaraj: “Shivaji’s call for Hindavi Swaraj gave a concrete shape to the social urge in Maharashtra. The ideological foundation of Shivaji’s kingdom ensured that he assured the co-operation of the entire population. He had popular support cutting across caste divisions that enabled him to perform feats like the celebrated raid on Shaista Khan at Poona or his escape from Mughal custody in Agra. The natural corollary of Shivaji’s call for Hindavi Swaraj was his wooing of Rajputs. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Mughal empire in reality was not Mughalat but a Rajput-Mughal coalition, Shivaji’s greatest success was that while he fought the misrule of the Muslim sultans and emperors, he managed to win over sizable numbers of Muslims to his side.”
One should not be surprised to know that not only his grand-father, Maloji Bhosle, and father, Shahaji Bhonsle, but even Shivaji served the army of Muslim rulers; Nizamshahi, Adilshahi and even the Mughals. The title of Raja to Shivaji was given by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ! Though Shivaji established his own Empire in 1674 declaring himself a Chhatrapati, the King, and could rule over it for a brief period of six years, he was so popular ruler that even today the historians with rightist tag like Setu Madhavrao Pagadi or leftist one like Govind Pansare would praise him alike. When Aurangzeb sent his army under the command of Raja Jay Singh to kill or capture Shivaji, the Maratha warrior writes a long letter to the Army Chief of the Mughal Emperor to convince him “not to serve the Mughals” and “to join hands” with him to wipe out the Muslim rule from the Southern India. The full text of the letter is available in the “Shivkaleen Patra Sar Sangrah Part-I” edited by N. C. Kelkar and D. V. Apte published in 1930.The Chhatrapti writes: “The lion never is afraid. But if I pull out the sword, the Hindus from both the sides would be at loss…If your sword is capable enough, attack the enemy of Hindus and wipe him out. We would have preferred ruler like Dara Shukoh.” Dara was the eldest son of Emperor Shahjahan and was set to be the ruler of India as Mughal Emperor. He was like his great grandfather, Emperor Akbar, respecting the Hindus and Hinduism. Unfortunately, Aurangzeb got him killed along with his brothers and after imprisoning his father, declared himself the Emperor.
Fundamentalist Islam suited Aurangzeb to strengthen his control over the Mughal Empire and that led to gradual fall of Mughal dynasty too. When he re-imposed the hated “jijya”, a tax that had to be paid by Hindus, Shivaji wrote to him : “ In this land Muslims, Hindus, Christians and other people have stayed together without any problem. Your own great grandfather Akbar was well known for his tolerance to all faiths. Your imposing of this tax will lead to terrible hardship for poor people and your empire will not survive. The Quran is God’s revelation and it does not make distinction between God’s children. In the mosque, the Muslims give Azaan while the Hindus ring bells in temples- what is the difference?” Aurangzeb may have the largest empire but he could experienced Shivaji’s foresight coming true even before he died in 1707 after 50 long year rule. Though Shivaji, a secular king, could be the ruler for just six years, he continues to be alive in the heart of Indians world over.
