Mumbai: Ahead of the Lok Sabha results, two leaders from warring factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) put up a small show of bonhomie over their opposition to the inclusion of certain verses from the ‘Manusmiriti,’ a Hindu scripture describing the social system, in the Maharashtra school curriculum.
Chhagan Bhujbal, a senior leader from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and a minister in the Mahayuti government, Thursday defended Jitendra Awhad, a leader from the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) at a time when BJP workers have been protesting against him for erroneously tearing a picture of B.R. Ambedkar. Awhad thanked Bhujbal for his support.
On Wednesday, Awhad accidentally tore the picture while burning a copy of Manusmriti at Mahad’s Chavdar Lake, where Ambedkar had led a satyagraha in 1927 to protest against untouchability and assert equal access to public resources for all. Awhad was there to protest against a proposal for inclusion of certain verses from the scripture in the state’s educational curriculum.
He publicly apologised the same day through a video message on his social media platform ‘X.’ “In a fit of anger, me and some karyakartas tore a few posters that had ‘Manusmriti’ written on them which also had a photo of Babasaheb Ambedkar. We did not do this deliberately at all. I am openly apologising for my mistake and my karyakartas mistake. I am someone who has in my entire life seen Babasaheb as my father,” Awhad said in Marathi.
शालेय अभ्यासक्रमात मनुस्मृतीचां समावेश करण्याचा प्रयत्न हे सरकार करत आहे.याचा विरोध म्हणून आज महाड येथील क्रांती स्तंभ येथे मनुस्मृतीचे दहन करून याचा निषेध केला.
हे करत असताना अनवधानाने माझ्याकडून एक मोठी चूक घडली. मनुस्मृतीचे निषेध करणारे पोस्टर्स काही कार्यकर्त्यांनी आणले… pic.twitter.com/FjffRKPNOa— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) May 29, 2024
After BJP members started agitating against his former colleague, Bhujbal spoke out in Awhad’s defence, saying the Mumbra-Kalwa MLA had gone to Chavdar Lake with good intentions and apologised for his honest mistake.
“Jitendra Awhad went there with good intentions to burn Manusmriti. He tore the picture without even looking at it. He even apologised. But the main issue that we don’t want Manusmriti in school education will be forgotten (due to the protests) and only protests over Jitendra Awhad will remain,” Bhujbal told reporters.
Last week, the Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research and Training released a draft on its official website seeking to overhaul Class 3-12 curricula in line with the National Education Policy. One of the proposals is to have a chapter on ‘value education and disposition,’ beginning with a Sanskrit verse on respecting elders taken from the Manusmriti.
School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar held a press conference Monday saying the steering committee that prepared the draft put it in public domain without the state government’s approval and that “the government does not want to propagate any text.”
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Bhujbal’s support to Awhad
Bhujbal had spoken against the draft curriculum, including Manusmriti verses, earlier as well.
“We have joined the government as a party that believes in Shahu, Phule, Ambedkar ideology. And so inclusion of Manusmriti in school textbooks will never be tolerated. Till the time we are in the government, we will not let Manusmriti be taught in schools,” Bhujbal said Monday, in a meeting of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in Mumbai.
At the meeting, Bhujbal also flexed his muscle to demand a minimum of 80 seats for the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to contest as part of the Mahayuti along with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP in the Maharashtra election later this year. The Maharashtra assembly has 288 seats.
Bhujbal had struck a retaliatory note against his government in the past as well when the Mahayuti government agreed to grant eligible Marathas reservation as Kunbis under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, as demanded by Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange Patil. One of the most prominent OBC leaders in Maharashtra, Bhujbal had protested against the decision and addressed rallies of the OBC community.
The MLA from Nashik district’s Yeola was also said to be sulking as he had to give up his claim on the Nashik Lok Sabha seat, which the Shinde-led Shiv Sena wanted for incumbent MP Hemant Godse. Bhujbal is said to have largely stayed away from the campaign of the Mahayuti candidate, Godse.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Awhad thanked Bhujbal for supporting him. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Yesterday, when I was asked at Chavdar Lake about who from other parties will stand behind me, I quickly picked one name – honourable Chhagan Bhujbal saheb. I know the love you have for the Bahujan community and your role…I will forever be grateful for the way you stood behind me,” Awhad posted on ‘X’.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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