Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the famous ‘baba’ of Bageshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, is under fire for his purported remarks about Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader advising him to study the history of Maharashtra.
“First study, read the history of Maharashtra and about Shivaji Maharaj. It is because of Shivaji Maharaj that you are still living as Hindus today. I want to tell this to the Bageshwar Baba,” said Sanjay Raut.
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He also questioned the silence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, who were present when Shastri made the purported remarks.
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“The one in power should be enraged too that a Baba came to Maharashtra and changed the history of Shivaji Maharaj in the presence of the Chief Minister and all other leaders…” said Raut as he asked, “Why didn’t the Chief Minister get angry? Why didn’t the RSS chief get angry?”
Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar also reacted sharply to the controversy and accused Dhirendra Shastri of insulting the Maratha king.
“Has he studied the history of Shivaji Maharaj? He spoke whatever came to his mind and insulted Shivaji Maharaj on the land of Maharashtra,” Wadettiwar said.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Harshavardhan Sapkal went a step further and urged people of the state to “kick out” the ‘Babas’ like Dhirendra Shastri.
“The people of Maharashtra should now kick out these hypocritical ‘Babas’ like Dhirendra Shastri — those who are nurtured by the RSS-BJP and come from the cow belt to Maharashtra only to defile our ‘Maharashtra Dharma’,” Sapkal added.
What did Dhirendra Shastri say about Shivaji Maharaj?
Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the Bhardurga Shaktisthal foundation stone-laying ceremony in Nagpur on Friday, Dhirendra Shastri claimed that Shivaji Maharaj was “tired of wars” and that he told Samarth Ramdas to “handle” his kingdom.
“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj grew very tired of fighting wars; he felt exhausted. One day, he went to Ramdas Swami. He took off his crown and placed it down, saying, ‘I do not want to fight wars anymore. You look after this crown; you handle this kingdom. We shall follow your orders. We can no longer fight; we are very tired and need rest. We wish to do nothing for a few days,'” Shastri had said.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were also present at the event when Dhirendra Shastri made the purported remarks about Shivaji Maharaj.
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