We should guard ourselves against false narratives created by vested interests, says Minister

The Hindu

19-05-2025

'We should guard ourselves from the evil designs of vested interests who are trying to divide society using false narratives from history,' Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Sunday.
'Some forces are trying to paint a picture of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as an anti-Muslim leader. This is not true. He had both Hindus and Muslims in his army. They lived like brothers and the King never discriminated against between them. His close confidantes, advisors and army generals were Muslims. If he fought the Mughals and other Kings, it was because of political reasons and not communal ones. There should be no attempt to distort facts for political benefit or other selfish reasons. It is detrimental to society,' he said.
He was speaking after releasing a book, Chhatrapati Shivaji, The Great Maratha, by Sarjoo Katkar.
He urged writers to take up intensive research and publication of books about great personalities, including Kings and saints.
'There needs to be done a lot of work that answer several questions about great personalities like Basavanna, B.R. Ambedkar and Shivaji Maharaj. They should be supported by well documented facts and not myths. It is well documented that some priests refused to officiate his coronation only because he was a Shudra. For centuries, some forces kept hidden the information about Shivaji's grave. They wanted to prevent him from becoming a great leader of the depressed classes. We should be indebted to Jyotiba Phule who identified Shivaji's resting place and cleaned it up,' the Minister said.
He said that Shivaji Maharaj should be referred to as the Great Indian and not the Great Maratha. 'We should realise that historic personalities belong to the world and not to any particular community or group. We should also reflect on the fact as to why those who were opposed to him then, are his great supporters now,' he said.
'There is a growing trend of people blindly believing and thoughtlessly forwarding messages on social media. We should not fall prey to this,' he said.
'Shivaji Maharaj means several things to different people. But I would like to think of him as a social leader who tried to introduce equality in society. There are instances where he mandated that those considered untouchable be allowed inside temples. He continues to guide in such matters. His guerilla war strategies are well documented. In fact, some leaders of Vietnam have said that Shivaji's guerilla strategies helped them defeat the U.S.,' the Minister said.
'The medieval era King shall be known for his patriotism, strategic struggles with enemies for the protection of the country, his military strategy, good governance for the prosperity of all people and his efforts to establish social harmony and a society without discrimination,' Mr. Jarkiholi said.
Author Sarjoo Katkar spoke about the effort of two years in researching for the book.
'I have travelled across several States and read over 200 books and research papers in preparing material for the book,' he said. He said that he was astonished by several things that he found during the research.
'Director of the Dr. Ambedkar Study Centre Sambhaji Rao Birje gave me copies of a letter by Shahu Maharaj to Dr. Ambedkar, where he says that Shivaji's Guru was Kshatra Jagadguru from Patgaon and not Samarth Ramdas. In fact, there is no documentary evidence to show that Shivaji and Samarth Ramdas ever met,' he said.
He clarified that he had used the sobriquet The Great Maratha as it was the term used by Queen Victoria to describe the Maratha King in one of her letters.
Dr. Katkar said that he had translated the books of researcher R.C. Dhere into Kannada. 'As per some of his research work, Shivaji's family originated from Sortur in Gadag district. Baliappa from the Hoysala clan moved from Sortur to Maharashtra to avoid drought conditions. His descendants became the governors of Bengaluru and later the Kings of the Maratha empire,' he said.
The former president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat Manu Baligar described the book as a reference work for future researchers on Shivaji Maharaj. 'There are thousands of books on Shivaji. But this stands out as it is based on researched facts and not myths and legends. It traces the history of India for over 10,000 years. It also sheds new light about the achievements of Shivaji like establishing his navy,' Dr Baligar said.
Writers Gurudevi Huleppanavaramath and Y.R. Patil introduced the work. Ramakrishna Marathe, Basavaraja Kuppasagoudar, Suma Katkar and others spoke.