Remove Dadoji Konddev Statue From Lal Mahal - Activists and Historians

Konddeo's statue will be shifted in 24 hrs: Mayor

TNN, Aug 26, 2010, 04.52am IST

PUNE: The statue of Dadoji Konddeo will be removed from the historic Lal Mahal, which was the residence of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, within 24 hours.

The assurance was given by Pune mayor Mohansingh Rajpal on Wednesday to protesting Lokshasan Andolan members, who were led by former justices P B Sawant and B G Kolse Patil.

The protestors had gheraoed the PMC headquarters in large numbers for more than five hours, demanding the removal of the statue from Lal Mahal. Meanwhile, 53 protestors were arrested late on Thursday evening. Senior inspector Sampat Patil of the Shivajinagar police, however, said, "We will release them on bail."

Konddeo's statue is part of a sculpture depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji, along with Jijamata, tilling the soil of Pune with a golden plough. Konddeo, according to some historians, guided Shivaji during his childhood. However, some historians say that he was not Shivaji's teacher.

"We will ensure that the statue is removed from Lal Mahal within 24 hours. I will place the issue before all party leaders and, by tomorrow (Thursday) evening, the statue will be removed. I promise that we will not retract on this stand," said Rajpal while speaking to the protestors.

Standing committee chairman and Congress corporator Arvind Shinde supported the mayor's stand and said the statue will be removed without any delay.

In a late evening development, Rajpal handed over a letter to the civic administration directing removal of the statue.

Speaking to TOI, Rajpal said, "When the statue was erected, the General Body's permission was not taken. Also, we considered the fact that the state government had stopped giving awards in the name of Konddeo and that his reference as guru of Shivaji has been deleted from the textbook. The state government has already said that there is nothing to prove that Konddeo was Chhatrapati Shivaji's guru. It is necessary to maintain law and order in the city."

Read more: Konddeo's statue will be shifted in 24 hrs: Mayor - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Konddeos-statue-will-be-shifted-in-24-hrs-Mayor/articleshow/6436255.cms#ixzz13pl6xLI5

PMC to appoint committee of historians to decide on Konddeo statue [Pune]

PUNE: Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal on Monday announced that a committee of historians will be formed by November 15 to decide the fate of the Dadoji Konddeo statue in Lal Mahal.
The proposal to appoint a committee of historians to bring historical facts' before the General Body (GB) of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had come up for discussion at the GB.
The mayor said, "By November 15 the committee will be appointed and later decision on this matter will be taken." All parties supported the proposal while independent corporator Ujwal Keskar opposed it saying that there was no need to appoint any such committee and the PMC GB should take the decision.
In August following the agitation by the Lokshasan Andolan members, who were led by former justices P B Sawant and B G Kolse Patil demanding removal of the statue, Mayor Rajpal had stated that the statue of Dadoji Konddeo will be removed within 24 hours from the historic Lal Mahal, which was the residence of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
However, later he changed his stand and said that a committee will be appointed in the matter and only then the decision will be taken.
Konddeo's statue is part of a sculpture depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji, along with Jijamata, tilling the soil of Pune with a golden plough. Konddeo, according to some historians, guided Shivaji during his childhood. However, some historians say that he was not Shivaji's teacher.
In January 2004, over 150 members of the Sambhaji Brigade, affiliated to the Maratha Seva Sangh, had attacked Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (Bori) here for helping' American author James Laine, who had made some objectionable remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji in his book, Shivaji: Hindu King In Islamic India'. Since the attack, the demand for removal of Konddeo's statue had gained momentum.
Laine's book, published by Oxford University Press in early 2003, led to widespread protests and vandalism. The Maharashtra government banned the book. The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Bombay High Court to lift the ban on the book, which, according to the state government, contained material promoting social enmity.

Remove Konddeo statue immediately: Sambhaji Brigade

TNN, Oct 28, 2010, 10.59pm IST

 

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation should immediately remove Dadoji Konddeo's statue from the Lal Mahal, instead of buying time by appointing a committee of historians to decide its fate, said the Sambhaji Brigade here on Thursday.

Activists of the Sambhaji Brigade, which is affiliated to the Maratha Seva Sangh, gheraoed mayor Mohansingh Rajpal on the PMC premises to put forward their demand. The activists said there is no point in appointing a committee of historians, since a state-appointed panel had already concluded that Konddeo was not Chhatrapati Shivaji's guru.

On Monday, Rajpal had announced that a committee of historians will be formed by November 15 to decide whether the statue should be removed from the Lal Mahal.

In August, following an agitation by the Lokshasan Andolan, led by former justices P B Sawant and B G Kolse Patil, demanding removal of the statue, Rajpal had said the statue would be removed within 24 hours from the historic Lal Mahal, which was the residence of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He later changed his stand and said a committee would be appointed to look into the matter and only then would a decision be taken. 

 

Dadoji Konddev's Name Removed From History Textbook by Maharashtra Government

Express News Service

Posted: Jun 16, 2009 at 0042 hrs IST

Pune 

The Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research (Balbharati) has removed the name of Dadoji Konddev as a teacher of Shivaji from the history textbook of standard IV to be introduced from this academic year.
The Maratha organisations like the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh, Maratha Seva Sangh and Sambhaji Brigade had demanded the state government to remove the name of Dadoji Konddev as a teacher of Shivaji claiming that Konddev had no role in the upbringing of Shivaji. Following this, the state government had set up a five-member committee last year including historians Dr Jaysingrao Pawar, Dr Gajanan Mehendale, Dr Raja Dixit, Dr Somnath Rode and J V Naik. The committee submitted its report to the state government and on that basis Balbharati made the changes in the textbook.
The press note also stated that the decision of removal of mention of Konddev as Shivaji’s mentor had been taken under the pressure of Maratha organisations. “It is wrong to change History without any proofs,” says the press note. 

Dadoji Konddev Award Controversy

Unhistorical 'Dadoji Konddev Puraskar' will be attacked as it denigrates Chatrapati Shivaji Raje....Shi.Anant Chonde.

  Shiv. Anant Chonde declared war against Dadoji Konddev Purskar which was awarded to prominent personalities who teaches, guides younger in various fields. This award is denigrating Chatrapati Shivaji Raje as it is unhistorical, baseless and lost any evidence. Maharashtra State Cultural Deptt in its answer to RTI under question written off Dadoji Konddev as mentor, guide, teacher of Chatrapati Shivaji Raje.

  

  The programme in which Dadoji Konddev Purskar is awarded will be attacked if State Govt doesn't take any action to cancel this 'puraskar'. Anant Chonde declared in a press conference  organised at Ahemadnagar by Shiv. Sanjay bhor, Sambhaji Brigade,  President A.Nagar

Dadaji Konddev Award Controversy- Maharashtra Govt. Formed Committee.


At last State Govt agreed to form a committee settle 'Dadoji Kondadev Award' issue. Since last two decades this state sponsored award, one of the greatest blunder on earth, has been offered to the prominant personalities in the sports field who have honed players to become international quality sportsman/woman.

We have been opposing this award due to its title Dadoji Konddev as he was the mentor of Chatrapati Shivaji Raje has no evidence with State Govt. This unhistorical title, in fact, is denigrating our inspiration.

State Govt has formed a committee of historians to settle this controversy. Shiv. Shrimant Kokate, A H salunkhe, Gangadhar Banbare,A.R.Kulkarni.G.B.Mehendale,vijay Deshmukh, Chandrashekhar Shikhare, ninad Bedekar, jaysingrao pawar,anuradh ranade are among this committee. 


“Dadoji Konddeo was not Shivaji’s guru, but was only working for him, and there has been no mention in any historic text or relic found that he has been Shivaji’s mentor,” said Shantaram Kunjir, working president, Sambhaji Brigade.
Dadoji Konddeo, the veteran warrior who is said to have taught the war tactics of sword and 'dandpatta' to Shivaji when he was a young boy, is in the eye of the storm again with the Sambhaji Brigade threatening that, if the statue is not removed it will not stop short of adopting its "own methods."
In 2000, the Pune Municipal Corporation in its golden jubilee year renovated Lal Mahal, the palace where Shivaji and his mother Jijabai lived during his formative years. On a small plot near the entrance, it installed statues of Shivaji tilling the land with a golden plough with Jijabai and Dadoji Konddeo by his side. The tableau portrayed Konddeo as his guru. This had led to a furore in 2004 with the Sambhaji Brigade asking the civic authorities to remove the statue. This eventually led to the closure of the Lal Mahal as a major tourist destination. It was, however, reopened in 2006. 
The Brigade had also ransacked the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) on January 5, 2004, after objecting to certain passages from the book Shivaji — Hindu King in Islamic India by James Laine.
Santosh Shinde, general secretary, Sambhaji Brigade, Pune said, “Due to the standoff between certain historians and the Sambhaji Brigade members, we were portrayed as a terrorist organisation. We, however, would like to clarify that the Brigade is a law-abiding organisation and believes in fighting for what is true.”

Kunjir also insisted that it was Shivaji’s father Shahaji who was responsible for mentoring Shivaji.
He said, “Shivaji’s initial formative days were spent in Bangalore where he was brought up under the guidance of his father. Then at the age of 13, he was sent to Pune to manage the city. Dadoji Konddeo was just an administrative officer and his tasks were those of taking care of the administration and development of the city. We had already raised the issue in 2004 and had got an assurance from the civic administration that the statue would be removed, in 2006. However, nothing materialised.” He also said, “We want the statue of Shahaji Raje to be installed after removing that of Dadoji Konddeo. We have given the administration a period of one month to do so and are hopeful that the civic administration will comply with our demands.”
Interestingly, the state government has also put on hold the Dadoji Konddeo award, Maharashtra's own version of the Dronacharya award given out at national level, owing to the controversy regarding whether he was actually Shivaji’s guru or not.
The state government has formed a committee of historians to settle this controversy. Shrimant Kokate, A H Salunkhe, Gangadhar Banbare, and Chandrashekhar Shikhare are amongst the prominent members of the committee.

Dadoji Konddev as Shivaji’s mentor? Govt has No Historical Proof

Konddev as Shivaji’s mentor? Govt has no historical proof

Mahesh Mhatre 

IN CONTROVERSY 

Shivaji’s life has been the subject for controversy for the past five years. It started with Congress-led State government and political parties, including the Shiv Sena, celebrating his birthday on two different days. Then came US scholar James lame’s book “Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India” which led to ransacking the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune.

WHO is Chhatrapati Shivaji’s guru? The controversy has come to a boil with the State’s culture department, in a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), stating that there is no historical proof that Dadoji Konddev was indeed Shivaji’s mentor.

The letter has put the PMC in a fix. In 2000, the civic body, in its golden jubilee year, renovated Lal Mahal, the palace where Shivaji and his mother Jijabai lived during his formative years. On a small plot near the entrance, it installed statues of Shivaji tilling the land with a golden plough with Jijabai and Dadoji Konddeo by his side. The tableau portrayed Konddeo as his guru. This erupted into a row with organisations like the Maratha  Seva Sangh (MSS) and Sambhaji Brigade, which believe that Konddev was not  Shivaji’s guru but only an officer appointed to look after the Kondhana fort near Pune, seeking the removal of  Konddev’s statue in 2004. This led to the closure of Lal Mahal a major tourist destination in Pune. It was reopened only recently.

Now, the culture department’s letter has made the PMC do a rethink. Municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer has said the corporation will renovate the tableau by adding Shivaji’s father Shahaji’s statue. “We may remove Konddev’s statue,” said Kareer.

Many historians consider the letter strange because for over four decades, school textbooks published by the State government have mentioned Konddev as Shivaji’s guru. Moreover, the government has even instituted an award for the best sports trainer in his name.

However, the Maratha Seva Sangh says some historian’s have deliberately portrayed Konddev and Ramdas swami as Shivaji’s gurus. Its chief Purushottam Khedekar said, “The State government has realised its mistake after so many years. It should correct it with immediate effect.”

Historians too are divided. Maratha history expert from Kolhapur Jaysingh Pawar says, “Available documents don’t mention Konddev’s name but some historians have intentionally maintained that he was Shivaji’s teacher. The culture department’s letter shows this is a baseless claim.”

Others like Babasaheb Purandare, Ninad Bedekar and Satchidanand Shewade say Konddev was the man behind Shivaji’s successful fight against the Mughals.