Representative image for protests.
Credit: iStock Photo
Mumbai: Amid the controversy over ‘purification’ ritual by BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Dr Medha Kulkarni in the iconic Shaniwarwada in Pune after a video surfaced in which a group of Muslim women were seen offering namaz in the fort-complex, the saffron party’s Maha Yuti allies had stayed away from the controversy.
While Rupali Patil Thombare, who is a senior leader of Ajit Pawar-led NCP demanded that a case be registered for flaming communal tensions, Legislative Council’s Deputy Speaker Dr Neelam Gorhe, who is from Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said that action should be taken against those who break laws.
Built in 1732, the Shaniwarwada Fort was the seat of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire until 1818. The complex was built by Bajirao Peshwa I (18 August 1700 – 28 April 1740), the legendary military commander and the seventh Prime Minister of the Maratha Empire, who is credited with establishing the Marathas as the supreme power in the Indian subcontinent.
Pune is considered Maharashtra’s cultural capital.
The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, however, the surviving structure draws tourists.
On Saturday, a video of some Muslim women offering namaz at the Shaniwarwada Fort went viral on social media platforms which was followed by condemnation by several Right-wing and Hindutva organisations like Sakal Hindu Samaj and Patit Pavan Sanghatana and on Sunday, Dr Kulkarni led a demonstration and her supporters cleaned the spot using gau-mutra (cow urine) and also performed Shiv Vandana as part of the ritual.
"Shaniwarwada is a historic site. It is a symbol of our victory, the center from which the Maratha Empire expanded from Attock to Cuttack. If someone comes here and recites Namaz, we will not tolerate it,” Dr Kulkarni wrote on X and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP national president and union minister JP Nadda and state BJP chief Ravindra Chavan.