Voluntary outfits come together to protest ‘Land Jihad’, demand govt to remove encroachments from forts

All the protestors who were present at the event were seen wearing either a saffron-coloured ribbon or a turban. Some of them were also seen displaying paper cut-outs of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Speaking at the event, Satish Kochrekar, spokesperson of the event, said the primary objective of the protest is to send a message to the current state government to remove illegal encroachments that have grown inside the forts.

“Almost all the forts in Maharashtra have been encroached today and all the encroachers belong to the Muslim community. They have taken over the entire fort premises in an illegal way, as they don’t have a single document that could prove their original ownership of that property,” Kochrekar said.

“This way they are taking over all the heritage structures that were built by Shivaji Maharaj and stern action is necessary from the state government. Therefore, we demand that strict guidelines should be issued to remove these encroachers from our forts and at the same time the government officials under whose watch these encroachments took place, should be penalised,” he said.

On Friday afternoon, a delegation of the members representing the outfit went to meet Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and handed over a letter stating that an independent committee needs to be formed which will comprise of government officials as well as members of the Gad-Durg Rakshan Samiti, that would work towards framing holistic policies towards conservation of the forts.

Ranjit Savarkar, grandnephew of Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar and chairperson of Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, also participated in the protest gathering and said that although the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is responsible for caretaking of these forts, an independent committee is need of the hour.

“This process of encroaching our forts is a deliberate attempt of grabbing the lands and heritage properties that have been built by Shivaji Maharaj and his followers. Many of these encroachers have received subsidies for setting up their shanties and this clearly states that in a way the government is also backing them. This needs to stop and the government needs to intervene,” Savarkar said.

Chandan Vichare, Mumbai president of Akhil Bharatiya Gad Kille Sanvardhan Samiti said, “This is not a political movement. All those who are present here have come to conserve the heritage and history of Maharashtra. These forts are the identity of our state and they shouldn’t be allowed to be exploited by anyone.”