Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
BJP’s ally Athawale: Pawar is secular, not casteist
Athawale, head of the Republican Party of India (RPI-A), is the former ally of the NCP and the Congress
HT Correspondents
MUMBAI: Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday slammed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, saying his party is known for its appeasement politics and for polarising society on communal lines. Fadnavis’s remarks came a day after Pawar said constant attempts were made to create communal troubles in the country.
Meanwhile, Pawar, who has been accused of promoting a “casteist” brand of politics by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, has received unexpected support. Union minister of state Ramdas Athawale, who is an ally of BJP to which MNS is trying to move closer, has said that Pawar is “not casteist, but secular”.
Pawar on Wednesday spoke about the film The Kashmir Files and how it was deliberately used to create communal strife. “Attempts are on to create a situation where social unity can be disturbed by encouraging communalism. Deliberate attempts are being made to incite communal strife. I urge people not to fall into this trap,” he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Fadnavis posted a series of tweets with links to news reports outlining his allegations.
He said they have been hearing various statements by Pawar on The Kashmir Files and “it’s not surprising at all”. “In fact, they are totally in line with NCP’s decades old track record of appeasement policy and politics and polarising the society of communal basis (sic),” Fadnavis wrote.
He also shared news articles where Pawar had termed Ishrat Jahan ‘innocent’ and had first coined the word ‘Hindu terror’.
The BJP leader said Pawar “invented” the 13th bomb blast in Mumbai in 1993. “What happened when Mumbai cried? On 12th March 1993, when Mumbai was shaken with 12 bomb blasts, @PawarSpeaks ji invented the 13th blast in a Muslim area. Instead of law and order, appeasement was his first priority.”
In the past, Pawar himself had said that he had lied about the 13th bomb blast while talking to the media as Mumbai witnessed 12 blasts in March 1993, to prevent a communal clash that could have led to chaos in the city.
NCP legislator Amol Mitkari said, “If you have so much vengeance against the Muslim community then it means you do not follow the Constitution. On the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, I ask you if you want to do away with the Constitution.
And if you don’t want it, the people will give a befitting response to you.”
Athawale, who heads his faction of the Republican Party of India (RPI-A) and is a former ally of the NCP and the Congress, pointed to how Pawar was instrumental in renaming Marathwada University at Aurangabad after Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He also opposed Raj’s demand the loudspeakers on mosques be pulled down.
“Pawar is not casteist. Pawar is secular,” said Athawale, adding, “The credit for Namantar [as the movement seeking the renaming is referred to] goes to Pawar.”
The state government had decided to rename Marathwada University after Ambedkar in 1978 when Pawar was the chief minister. This was Pawar’s first term as the chief minister and head of ‘Purogami Lok Dal’ or Progressive Democratic Front (Pulod) coalition. The renaming was resented by members of the dominant Maratha community and this had led to violence against Dalits, especially the Buddhist Dalits (erstwhile Mahars who converted to Buddhism with Dr Ambedkar in 1956). This in turn led to a counter-mobilisation by Dalits and progressive groups. Athawale, a former foot-soldier of the Dalit Panthers, is a product of the Namantar (renaming) movement. The university was finally renamed on January 14, 1994.