Row after video shows nurses hurling Prabodhankar Thackeray's book at retiring officer who gifted it

The senior hospital officer had distributed "Devlancha Dharm ani Dharmachi Devale" (The Religion of Temples and the Temples of Religion), authored by Prabodhankar Thackeray.

Mumbai: A row has erupted with a video purportedly showing a group of nurses at a civic hospital here hurling books written by Prabodhankar Thackeray and another social reformer at an officer who distributed them as a gift before retiring, claiming that the books hurt their religious sentiments.

The hospital authorities said a probe was underway into the incident that took place on July 29, about a month before the officer's retirement. While a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and nurses claimed that no book was flung at anyone, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) said the insult of a social reformer like Prabodhankar Thackeray was an insult to the entire state. Prabodhankar Thackeray (1885-1973) was the father of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray.

The retiring section officer of the Kasturba Hospital, run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on September 19 approached the police with a complaint that the video was being circulated to defame him. Based on it, a non-cognisable offence was registered, a police official told PTI on Tuesday.

The senior hospital official said an inquiry was on into the matter. The officer had distributed the books -- "Devlancha Dharm ani Dharmachi Devale" (The Religion of Temples and the Temples of Religion), authored by Prabodhankar Thackeray, and "Deshache Dushman" (Enemies of the Country), written by Dinkarrao Javalkar. He gifted them as a goodwill gesture at the Kasturba Hospital, nearly a month before his retirement, sources said on Tuesday.

Prabodhankar Thackeray's book critiques blind faith, religious hypocrisy, and commercialisation of religion. It urges people to separate true spirituality from ritualistic exploitation carried out in the name of God, while Javalkar's book points out that true enemies of India are not foreign powers, but internal exploiters - those who use religion, caste, and superstition to divide and control society. In the viral video, one of the nurses is heard questioning the officer about why he gave them books that, according to her, insulted the Hindu religion.

They later called him to the matron's office and questioned him about it. At the end of the conversation, one of them allegedly threw a white envelope containing two books at him, before leaving the room. The officer is also seen apologising to them with folded hands, if they felt offended, before they hurled the books at him in anger.

The video was later circulated in a WhatsApp group of nurses of the Kasturba Hospital, from where it was leaked and shared elsewhere, before it went viral on social media, the sources said. Agripada police station's senior inspector Sanjay Nale told PTI that the incident took place on July 29, about a month before the officer's retirement.

He complained to the police on September 19 that he was being defamed by the circulation of the incident video on WhatsApp groups, based on which a non-cognisable offence was registered, the police official added. The hospital's medical superintendent, Chandrakant Pawar, said an inquiry was on into the matter.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, including local MLA Manoj Jamsutkar and former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, visited the hospital on Tuesday. The person who distributed the book had century-old thoughts and ideas and one of the books was even banned, Pednekar said.

The retired official was a controversial person and had many complaints against him, she said. "No book was flung at anyone. There is a difference between throwing the book and not accepting it. Two books were distributed in an envelope. When the nurse saw the first book (Deshache Dushman), she refused to accept it. The second book (of Prabhodhankar Thackeray) was not shown to the nurses," she said. Rutuja Dhadam, who has worked as a nurse for 32 years, said permission was not taken to distribute the books.

"I denied accepting the books, but he kept insisting that I should take them. But he kept persisting for 20 minutes. He again told me to accept the book which will help in my 'prabodhan' (reformation). I told him I don't want to do anything which will create a divide in the society. Yet, he gave three copies of the books in three separate envelopes," she said. She added that it was because of Bal Thackeray that Marathi women got jobs as nurses and can work proudly.

MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said insult of a social reformer like Prabodhankar Thackeray is an insult of Maharashtra, and remarks made against him have crossed "all the limit of stupidity".

"Does the person (who made the remarks) know who Prabodhankar was? Has the person read the work by Prabodhankar? He took Maharashtra towards reformists' traditions and fought against ill-practices in the society. I think the poison spread by these people is harmful for the society," Deshpande said.