In the morning, Patil and Kolhapur MP Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati visited Vishalgad Fort to inspect the damage done to houses, shops and vehicles atop the fort during the violence on Sunday. By Monday evening, the police had filed cases against 500 people and arrested 21 of them who had allegedly indulged in violence. (Express Photo)
EVEN as the AIMIM has called for a statewide protest on Friday against the incidents of violence and arson at Vishalgad Fort in Kolhapur, the Maharashtra Congress also targeted Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, former Rajya Sabha MP, who led a protest to the fort demanding removal of encroachments.
“I think Sambhajiraje erred in leading the protest of right-wing activists to Vishalgad Fort. I think he made a big mistake and it was not expected from someone who is the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” Congress leader and MLC Satej Patil told this paper on Tuesday evening.
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In the morning, Patil and Kolhapur MP Shahu Maharaj Chhatrapati visited Vishalgad Fort to inspect the damage done to houses, shops and vehicles atop the fort during the violence on Sunday. By Monday evening, the police had filed cases against 500 people and arrested 21 of them who had allegedly indulged in violence.
Patil said he and the Kolhapur MP were initially not allowed by the police to visit the affected area. ”But later the police relented. What we saw was very sad. People were beaten, houses and shops were damaged, vehicles were burnt… This kind of thing happening in Kolhapur is condemnable,” he said.
Patil said no one was against removal of encroachments from the fort. ”Why is the government keeping quiet? It should take action against encroachments. But who has given them the right to cause damage and beat people. This is just not done, especially, on a land which swears by the ideology of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” he said.
Former MIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel said he has asked party units across Maharashtra to hold protests in their respective districts and submit memorandum to the collectorate. ”I never thought Sambhajiraje would lead such a protest. He is the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj during whose rule all citizens were equal. He cared for every citizen. But his descendants seem to be going down the wrong path,” he said.
Kolhapur District Guardian Minister Hasan Mushrif said, ”You should ask Sambhajiraje whether his stand is appropriate. In the land of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj and one which is known for progressive mindset, such an incident is highly unfortunate.”
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Hitting back at the minister, Sambhajiraje said, ”Mushrif should not teach me what is progressive mindset. Encroachments are ruling Vishalgad. Two-three floor buildings have been built. Wells have been cemented and concrete platforms have been built on them. On the concrete platforms structures have been built. We will not tolerate this.”
”I want to ask those who are shouting from the foothills of the fort as to whether they have ever visited the fort… Mushrif and Satej Patil are telling me that I should not speak they way I have done. They are alleging that I have dumped progressive mindset. They have no right to question me. They should first visit the fort, see for themselves and then speak,” he said.
Sambhajiraje said the minister has never brought any development fund for Vishalgad. ”Forget about other forts in Maharashtra, but Mushrif has never even brought funds for Vishalgad which is in Kolhapur district. I have worked relentlessly for Vishalgad as well as other forts in Kolhapur. I have helped Vishalgad get Rs 5 crore funds…They are making allegations against me, but what have these people done for the forts,” he asked.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
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