History book row: Sena slams Maratha organisations

Blasting Maratha community organisations for “creating a rift” in the society in the name of Maratha king Shivaji, the Shiv Sena on Saturday came down heavily on them, raising questions about their intentions.

Blasting Maratha community organisations for “creating a rift” in the society in the name of Maratha king Shivaji, the Shiv Sena on Saturday came down heavily on them, raising questions about their intentions.

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Executive President Uddhav Thackeray strongly objected to the removal of the name of Dadoji Konddev as Shivaji’s teacher from Class 4 History textbooks.

The Maratha organisations had claimed Konddev was not Shivaji’s teacher. They are running a campaign against the “efforts of Brahmin historians to subvert the history and show supremacy of Brahmins”. Thus, they forced the government to remove references to Konddev, a Brahmin, from the textbook.

“The government has altered history under pressure from certain communal organisations. Those who can tolerate glorification of Afzal Khan and Mughal king Aurangazeb should not talk against Konddev and Samarth Ramdas (Shivaji’s spiritual guru),” said Thackeray in a statement.

“Where were these Maratha outfits when the Congress governments dropped certain sections in the textbooks to avoid ‘hurting sentiments’ of Muslim organisations.”