Anti-encroachment drive on Vishalgad Fort will continue, says Fadnavis
After the communal violence in Kolhapur on Sunday, in which a mob attacked residents of Gajapur village, pelted stones and vandalised a mosque, home minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that the anti-encroachment drive on the historical Vishalgad Fort would continue
MUMBAI: After the communal violence in Kolhapur on Sunday, in which a mob attacked residents of Gajapur village, pelted stones and vandalised a mosque, home minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that the anti-encroachment drive on the historical Vishalgad Fort would continue.
Responding to the opposition’s criticism and call for action, Fadnavis said that his first priority was to restore peace to the area but added that since the encroachments were on a fort built by Shivaji Maharaj, MVA leaders needed to clarify whether they stood with the encroachers or Shivaji. “The encroachments have to be removed as per the wish of Shiv bhakts,” he stated. “The drive against unauthorised structures will be carried out legally by following the laid-down procedures.”
On Tuesday, the Kolhapur district administration removed 80 of 158 encroachments on Vishalgad Fort amid heavy police bandobast. The district administration began removing the encroachments after they received in-principle approval for demolishing only those structures which were not covered under a court stay order.
Sunday’s violence was sparked after right-wing activists led by former BJP MP Sambhajiraje Bhosale were stopped at the base of the fort in view of prohibitory orders. The police booked 500 people and arrested 21 suspects for arson and rioting, including Bhosale, who later thanked “all Shiv Bhakts for making this movement successful”.
Bhosale had taken an aggressive stand and called for the demolition of all the encroachments at the fort. Several right-wing groups also gave a call to followers to land up there and demolish them. On the way, the mob went berserk and attacked Gajapur village, six kilometres away from the fort. They assaulted villagers, pelted stones and also vandalised a mosque. Several videos of the hooliganism went viral on social media platforms.
Congress MP Shahu Maharaj, father of Sambhajiraje, visited the affected village on Tuesday and condemned the attack, demanding strict action against the attackers. The police had not allowed him to visit the affected village earlier, as the district administration had issued prohibitory orders from July 15 to 29 to keep the situation under control.
Satej Patil, Congress MLC who accompanied Shahu Maharaj, said they were not opposed to removing the encroachments but attacking innocent villagers and vandalising a mosque was not acceptable. “District collector Amol Yedge and Police SP Mahendra Pandit should have taken precautions when a clarion call went out from right-wingers to personally remove the encroachments,” he said. Congress MLAs Amin Patel and Aslam Shaikh also met DGP Rashmi Shukla and demanded action against those involved in the attack.
While Imtiyaz Jaleel, former MP of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, declared a statewide protest on Friday, NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad accused the state government of fanning communal violence to polarise voters before the upcoming assembly elections. “The police were directed to allow all this to happen,” he alleged.
Opposition leaders have demanded action in the matter and have also claimed that the supporters of right wing leader Manohar alias Sambhaji Bhide were behind the attack. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) president Prakash Ambedkar said that Bhide’s supporters had attacked the villagers as per the information of the fact-finding team the VBA had sent. “We have asked the government to take action against them,” he said.
Vishalgad Fort has become a battleground between the district administration and Hindutva forces over the removal of encroachments. The fort to which Chhatrapati Shivaji escaped after being besieged at Panhala Fort in 1660, is significant in Maratha history.
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