“Naya Kashmir” on Tuesday got a new “nationalist” symbol — a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that was unveiled by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde in the border Kupwara district.
Accompanying Shinde were lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, Maharashtra cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Major General Girish Kalia, GOC, Vajr Division, and other senior army and civil officers.
Shivaji, a 17th-century Maratha king, is positioned by the Right wing as a “Hindu icon” who fought Muslim Mughal rulers, although he is widely seen as a secular king belonging to a marginalised caste.
Kashmir had little appetite for statues installed at public places before the 2019 scrapping of special status, but the list has been gradually growing in recent years. Among the few that existed before was a bust of Major Somnath Sharma, who had died fighting tribal invaders from Pakistan in 1947.
The 10ft statue of the Maratha warrior king riding a horse was installed at a Maratha Light Infantry Regiment camp in Kupwara. Special prayers held by a priest marked the occasion.
A video on Monday showed dozens of army men cheering and chasing a pick-up truck carrying the statue in celebrations in Kupwara.
The statue is a joint initiative of the Pune-based NGO Amhi Punekar and the 41 Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army (Maratha Li).
LG Sinha praised the NGO for the “historic initiative” and said the statue would be a source of inspiration “for people and the bravehearts of the army”.
“Shivaji was a born leader who scripted a new history of India through his mesmerising victory against the enemy,” Sinha said.
He called for celebrating a Shivaji festival in Kupwara on November 7 every year.
Shinde said it was “indeed commendable that this statue is being erected at Kupwara in the same year as the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji”.
Among all chief ministers, Shinde, the Shiv Sena leader and BJP ally who is battling protests by Marathas for reservation in his home state, has been taking particular interest in Kashmir.
He visited Kashmir in June to urge LG Sinha to grant land to his state for the construction of a Maharashtra Bhavan in Kashmir. No state has a Bhavan in Jammu and Kashmir.