The Hindu : Front Page : Police bracing to face VHP threat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 12, 2004

Front Page

Police bracing to face VHP threat

By Meena Menon

MUMBAI, SEPT. 11. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) says it is sticking to its plan to demolish the tomb of Afzal Khan and the "illegal structures" built around it on the Pratapgad fort tomorrow.

The fort is 27 km away from the hill station of Mahabaleshwar in Satara district of Maharashtra.

VHP zonal secretary, Venkatesh Abdeo, told The Hindu that they were "going ahead with demolition... There will be 50,000 people tomorrow who will be present to ensure this."

Last Friday, the VHP held a meeting with the Satara district collector, on its demand. It says that there are "illegal structures" at the tomb site, which include a guest house and that annual celebrations are held there.

Mr. Abdeo said they had demanded the demolition of these "illegal structures" and the construction of a monument to glorify Shivaji — a Shiv Pratap memorial, as it was a fort he had built.

"Till 1916, the tomb was just a simple structure and we had no objections to that. However, things have changed since then and the tomb has been glorified in many ways," Mr. Abdeo alleged.

Official sources said that during the meeting with collector, the administration had agreed to all these demands.

The State Government had taken custody of the land in 2002. The Afzal Khan Memorial Trust, which was registered in Mumbai to run these activities, was deregistered last week, the sources said.

The Bombay High Court, in a case filed by Varsha Deshpande, an activist, issued ordered last week that status quo be maintained at the place, while issuing notices to the State and the Central Governments at the apathy over the historic monument and its adjoining land, where "illegal structures" had cropped up.

`Only assurances'

However, the VHP says the Maharashtra Government had only given assurances and there had been no action. "The Chief Minister should give it to us in writing that he intends to honour these demands. The district administration only told us these demands would be placed before the State Government. Why are they protecting illegal constructions," Mr. Abdeo asked.

Ban orders

Police and the district administration are taking no chances. Chandrakant Kumbhar, Superintendent of Police, Satara, said that all roads leading to Pratapgad would be carefully checked and prohibitory orders had been imposed in the area. "Since they are saying openly that they will destroy the tomb, we are only allowing legitimate tourists or travellers to proceed along the highways. There are 100 officers and 1,500 policemen, apart from two companies of the State Reserve Police to maintain security," he said.

On November 10, 1659, Afzal Khan, a general of Sultan Adil Shah of Bijapur, was invited to Pratapgad by Shivaji, and the encounter resulted in Khan's death. It was actually Shambuji Kavji, Shivaji's swordsman who beheaded Afzal Khan, already wounded by Shivaji. Jadunath Sarkar, in his book "Shivaji and his times," records that Afzal Khan's head was buried under a tower called Abdullah Buruj on the south-eastern front of the lower fort.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page