CM Fadnavis should find solution for Dhangar community living at Raigad fort: IAC president
It is time for the citizens of the Dhangar to leave their ancestral land. Raigad is protected as a historical heritage site. As per the ASI rules, any encroachment or new construction on the fort is illegal, so notices have been issued to the citizens of the Dhangar Basti here.
The time has come for the Dhangar community, who have been living on the fort for seven generations, to become homeless, he said.
Patil requested that Fadnavis should discuss this issue with the central government and requested that the issue of the Dhangar community be treated as a special matter.
Patil appealed that the government should provide justice to the Dhangar community. "There are houses of the Dhangar brothers in the area below the market Jagdishwar temple at Raigad. The families earn a living by providing milk, curd, buttermilk and food to tourists who come to the fort," he said.
"For the last 700 years, the Dhangar community has lived on the fort. The Dhangar community has also played a heroic role in Shivaji's work for Swarajya. The community has done work including protecting the fort, animal husbandry during Shivaji's reign, milk production and fighting the battle for Swarajya," he said.
In such a situation, we can not just remove their dwellings as encroachments.
The government should remove the encroachments on other forts, but allow the Dhangar basti to remain as a special case, demanded Patil.
Dhangar and OBC leaders should come together on this issue and write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and try to save the Dhangars on the fort.
Patil said that he will soon send a letter to Prime Minister Modi in this regard, requesting him to maintain the Dhangar basti there.
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