Low intensity crude bombs have exploded in 4 locations in Pune, though no causalities have been reported. But again, why have these blasts occurred at this very moment & what is the underlying political context of this terror attack, is the moot point & hence this analysis after conferring with our Dalit-OBC activists friends in Mumbai & in Pune.
It also marks a welcome, though a little too warm, for Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, the first Dalit (so-called untouchables) Home Minister of independent India.
Thus in our assessment, this series of terror attacks, is part of the ongoing caste war that has once again erupted all across Maharashtra, especially ever since the struggle over the true paternal lineage of Shivaji Maharaj, the widely loved, iconic & revered king.
But today marked a major historic turning point in the battle. The Samabhaji Brigade, led by the Maratha community (which in the last 2 decades, is rediscovering its non-Brahmin religio-cultural identity with the emergence of Shiv Dharma), but also includes activists from the Shudra-Ati-Shudra or the Dalit-OBC sections, destroyed the so-called Samadhi or burial site of Waghya, Shivaji’s non-existent pet dog. This fact has been proved in a remarkable work of research by Shri Ananth Darvatkar – “Advaiti Chatrapti Shri Sambhaji Maharaj”.
For the last few years, the Bahujan movement led by journalist Sudhakar Lad & by Vilas Kharat, a writer has petitioned the government of Maharashtra to put an end to this vile calumny. But the government failed to respond.
As one would recall, this is part of the ongoing struggle over the true legacy of Shivaji Maharaj, who until now has been misused & appropriated by the Hindutva-Brahmaical right wing, but now has been reclaimed by the Bahujan & progressive secular movements.
Due to the fact that Shivaji Maharaj was committed to the anti-caste struggle, his paternal lineage was a matter of extremely vicious whispering campaign by the Brahmanical sections for the past four centuries. The true father of Shivaji Maharaj was Shahaji, but the Brahmins made lewd jokes about Dadaji Kondev, a Brahmin as the real father & thus insulting the memory of Jijau Mata, who was both the mother & guru of Shivaji Maharaj.
This too erupted into a controversy due to the book written by James Laine & he was helped along in his research by the conservative Brahmin scholars of Bhandarkar Institute in Poona, a centre of extremism, with 3 of its “researchers” under investigation for the Malegaon terror attacks by the ATS then led by Shri Hemant Karkare , who as we were aware was martyred during the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks.
The Sambhaji Brigade removed the statue of Dadaji Kondev from the rest of the family & this has truly angered the Brahmins, especially the most casteist & racist of them all – the Chitpawan Brahmins, who interestingly are also Israel’s most important supporters in India.
Today after the destruction of the false burial site & its dedication to the memory of Saibai, the Bahujan activists had decided to organize a victory rally in Pune – & thus the terror attacks across Pune!!
Also the blast has occurred when Sushilkumar Shinde has been appointed as the Home Minister & it marks the first time that a Dalit has occupied this post in the history of independent India.
Kishore Jagtap is a Mumbai-based human rights and social activists
Courtesy: Countercurrents.org