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Journalism of Courage
A man claiming to be the direct descendant of Mastani, the wife of Bajirao I, has said that he was denied a place on the stage during the ceremony of unveiling a statue of the Peshwa of the Maratha empire by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune on Friday.
Shadab Ali Bahadur Peshwa, reportedly the Nawab of Banda in Uttar Pradesh, said on Thursday that he would boycott the ceremony, adding that he was not opposed to the unveiling of the statue. He said that it was an insult to a direct descendant of Peshwa Bajirao when another descendant from Pune was given a place on the stage.
“I received the invitation for the event very late, and the organisers conveyed that I would not be given a place on the stage. The Union minister is fond of history, and this attempt to ignore the true descendant is a diversion from the actual history. Bajirao Peshwa and Mastani are symbols of love and sacrifice. We cannot tolerate such an insult to the descendants of Peshwa,” he said.
He also claimed that the descendants of the Peshwa in Pune were adopted from a family in Varanasi. “I am the true descendant. The sacrifice of my ancestors is historical. The Bajirao Peshwe Pratishthan has overlooked history and given the honour to the adopted descendant. This is an attempt to hide the historical truth,” said Nawab Ali in a statement.
He was referring to the organisation that has donated the Bajirao statue, and is also one of the organisers of the ceremony at NDA.
Shah has unveiled a 13.5-foot-tall bronze statue, which weighs 4,000 kg, of the Peshwa on the NDA campus. The statue of Bajirao I, who died at the age of 40 and was credited with never losing a battle in his lifetime, has been installed to honour the ruler’s bravery and to serve as a source of inspiration to the NDA cadets.
Shah’s unveiling of the statue comes amidst a controversy over the renaming of the Pune railway station after Bajirao I. Recently, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni demanded that the station be renamed to highlight the bravery and contribution of the Peshwa in the Maratha Empire. However, the demand faced opposition from the NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Maratha organisations, who said there are many brave leaders whose names could also be given to the Pune railway station.
