James Laine lying, impossible to believe he never met Purandare, says Sambhaji Brigade
In an interview to India Today magazine, Laine has refuted the allegation that Babasaheb Purandare, better known as Shiv Shahir, one who sings ballads on Shivaji, was his source for his controversial writing on Chhatrapati Shivaji in his book.
The issue surfaced last week after NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he had criticised Purandare as the late historian was the source of Laine's controversial writing on Chhatrapati Shivaji in his book, ‘Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India.’
REVIVING THE nearly two-decade old controversy, the Sambhaji Brigade, a right-wing outfit, on Sunday trained its guns once again on author James Laine, debunking his claim that he had never met historian late Babasaheb Purandare while living in Pune. The organisation also slammed Laine for claiming that he had not sourced information for his book from the one written by Purandare as there are “stark similarities” in their books.
In an interview to India Today magazine, Laine has refuted the allegation that Babasaheb Purandare, better known as Shiv Shahir, one who sings ballads on Shivaji, was his source for his controversial writing on Chhatrapati Shivaji in his book. The issue surfaced last week after NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he had criticised Purandare as the late historian was the source of Laine’s controversial writing on Chhatrapati Shivaji in his book, ‘Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India.’ Pawar was responding to an allegation from MNS chief Raj Thackeray that he (Pawar) was targeting Purandare because he was a Brahmin.
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Laine’s book, which was published in 2003, had sparked a major controversy and strained relations between Maratha and Brahmin community as Sambhaji Brigade had attacked BORI or Bhandarkar Research and Oriental Institute, alleging that its researchers had provided derogatory information on Chhatrapati Shivaji to Laine. The state government had banned the book in 2004. The Oxford University Press had also withdrawn the book.
“Laine’s is lying. His claim that he has not had a single conversation with Purandare is impossible to believe. Laine lived in Pune for 10 years and not far from Purandare’s residence…He met several researchers, historians and activists. Therefore, it is difficult to believe he did not meet Purandare. Laine is trying to protect his source who drew severe condemnation for his act for years,” Pravin Gaikwad, state president, Sambhaji Brigade told this newspaper on Sunday.
Elaborating on Laine’s source, Gaikwad said, “The derogatory content that Laine has sourced has stark similarity to what Purandare had written in his book, Raja Shiv Chhatrapati. On page 93 of Laine’s book mentions that Shivaji had an absentee father. On page 126 of Purandare’s book, same thing is written in Marathi. Also, the references to Dadoji Konddev elevating his status and closely linking him with the Maratha King are almost similar and shocking.” While Laine’s book was published in 2003, Purandare’s book was first published in 50s. Purandare died last year.
Gaikwad said Laine claims that he heard people on Pune’s streets talking about Dadoji Konddev and his close links with Shivaji. “He heard that and he says he put the hearsay in his book. Can there be anything more ridiculous than this? No matter how much Laine tries to hide his source, we all know who his sources have been and where he lifted the material from,” he said. Gaikwad said Purandare never removed the objectionable writings from his book during his lifetime. “Nor did he ever apologise for it…,” he said.
The Sambhaji Brigade also criticised MNS chief Raj Thackeray for backing Purandare and stating that historian took Shivaji’s heroic act among the masses. “Much before Purandare woke up and spread falsehoods, for centuries generations not just in Maharashtra but world over knew about the heroism of the Maratha king,” he said.
Marathi author Shrimant Kokate said he has objections to the entire book written by Laine. “There is complete distortion of history in Laine’s book. He has borrowed distorted history from Purandare’s book. Laine spent a decade in Pune and it is just not possible that he has not interacted with Purandare,” he said.
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