By Rajan Narayan

THE Chief Minister of Goa, Dr Pramod Sawant, is an Ayurveda doctor and not a historian. Pramod Sawant considers himself a Kshatriya Maratha. The same caste group that Shivaji Maharaj reportedly belongs to. The BJP has been projecting Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as a Hindu nationalist leader. It is part of the BJP narrative of finding and promoting heroes to foster Hindutva pride. As part of the larger narrative of India, or rather Bharat, being a Hindu nation.
The BJP has been aggressively promoting the Maratha warrior king Shivaji since it returned to power in Maharashtra. It may be recalled that Devendra Fadnivas came back as chief minister of Maharashtra after the alliance of the BJP with a break in the Shiv Sena, and the NCP group won the last assembly election in 2024, humiliating the Congress’ Sharad Pawar rival alliance. It is natural for leaders in Maharashtra, particularly the Shiv Sena to promote Shivaji Maharaj as a warrior who preserved and promoted Hinduism.
Even more importantly, as a Hindu king who defeated or at least kept control of the Mughal chieftains. Never mind that Shivaji’s victory over Afzal Khan was less than honourable. It is a matter of record and legend that Shivaji stabbed Afzal Khan in the chest with his hidden waghnak claw (tiger claw-shaped weapon) when the two embraced each other.

I WAS BORN IN PUNE
I SPENT the early part of my childhood in Pune, which is the heart of Maratha history and Shivaji Maharaj. Even our primary school text books had images of Shivaji Maharaj overcoming and killing Afzal Khan. But Shivaji has never been part of the historical narrative in Goa. There is no reference to Shivaji in the history books in Goa either before or after Liberation.
It is only in very recent years that the Shivaji’s birthday has become such a major event. It is not a coincidence that the glorification of Shivaji coincides with a Kshatriya Maratha Pramod Sawant becoming the chief minister of the state. In the country as a whole and in Goa it is the Bajrang Dal, the fanatic Hindutva wing of the RSS, that has been promoting the legends of Shivaji. They claim that Shivaji played a major role in fighting the Portuguese, in delaying the conquest of Goa.
It is a matter of historical fact that the Portuguese first took the old conquests of Salcete and Bardez. It was much later that they managed to establish control over Ponda and large parts of North Goa. There is no hard evidence that Shivaji prevented the conversion of the people of north Goa to Christianity. The census figures show that there are as many converts in north Goa as in south Goa.
In Goa, unlike in other parts in country, it was the Hindu bhatkar (landlords) who converted to protect their property. It was nothing to do with religion. It was a matter of survival.
JUST as Dr Pramod Sawant is not an authority on Maratha history, so also advocate Uday Bhembre is not a historian. Advocate Uday Bhembre is basically a lawyer and a Devanagiri Konkani writer. It is not widely known that Uday Bhembre is the author of some of the most soulful love poetry in Konkani. There is no doubt at all that Uday Bhembre played a major role in the Opinion Poll.
The referendum was conducted in 1967 to decide whether Goa would remain an independent Union territory or be merged with Maharashtra. Uday Bhembre wrote a very powerful column under the name Brashmastra in the “Rashtramath” edited by the late Chandrakant Keni. The Marathi “Rashtramath” played a very major role in rallying Hindus to oppose the merger of Goa with Maharashtra. I can vouch for the contribution of Uday Bhembre to the Opinion Poll victory, as I have documented the history of the Opinion Poll in my book “Triumph of Secularism.”

UNIQUE GOA
IT’S an irony that Uday Bhembre, who fought to preserve the unique identity of Goa, ended up polarizing Goa on communal lines. I say this with a full sense of responsibility without meaning any insult to Uday Bhembre. Uday Bhembre was one of the leaders of the Konkani Porjecho Avaz (KPA) movement, which was responsible for forcing the then Pratapsingh Raoji Rane government to pass a bill to make Konkani the official language of the state of Goa.
But regrettably Uday Bhembre was also a party to making Konkani the official language only in the Devanagiri script. This resulted in the polarisation of Goa among communal lines. This is because the Catholics, who played a very major role in the Konkani agitation, were side-lined. They were totally unfamiliar with Devanagiri Konkani and the official language bill did not recognize Romi Konkani as a sister script. This hurt the minority Catholic population as Marathi was given a special status as almost official language in the Official Language Act.
Uday Bhembre was also part of the group that for a long time, conspired to deny grants to English-medium primary private schools. Uday Bhembre supported the decision of Goa’s second chief minister, the late Shashikala Kakodkar, to deny grants to English- medium primary schools.

MANOHAR PARRIKAR
INTERESTINGLY, it was Manohar Parrikar who restored grants to English-medium primary schools run by the Church. Grants are still not extended to English-medium primary schools run by Hindu managements.
There is been a justifiable sense of outrage over the Bajrang Dal targeting Uday Bhembre for the video on Shivaji. Countering Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s claim that the Maratha king Shivaji Maharaj kept the Portuguese out of the old conquest, Bhembre went to the other extreme of insisting that Shivaji and the Portuguese were friends. There are some claims that the Portuguese helped Shivaji with weapons to fight the Mughals. There are even claims that the Portuguese’s helped Shivaji to strengthen his Navy. There are counter claims that Shivaji ensured that the foreign powers like the English and the Portuguese were prevented from expanding their sphere of influence. The common enemy of both Shivaji and the Marathas were the Mughals. So its seems logical that Shivaji and the Portuguese put up a common front against the Portuguese.
It is significant that the Hindu general, Timoji, asked the Portuguese to liberate Goa from Adil Shah’s rule. If the Marathas under Shivaji was such a dominant force Timoji would have invited Shivaji to fight Adil Shah. It is matter of historical record that Adil Shah was the ruler in large parts of Goa before the Portuguese took control. It is also a matter of record that in the initial battle, the Portuguese were driven back by Adil Shah’s armies.
The Portuguese came back and not only defeated Adil Shah but shifted their secretariat to the Adil Shah Palace in Panaji. The post-Liberation government of Goa also functioned from the Adil Shah Palace till about a decade ago.

THE TRUTH
THE issue is not whether Shivaji had any significant influence on Goa and Goan politics. The issue is not whether Shivaji prevented and limited the march of the Portuguese to the old conquests. It is a matter of record that the Portuguese were able to extend their rule to the new conquests only after the death of Shivaji.
The question is whether the BJP government and the Bajrang Dal have any to silence those who may object to the BJP version of Goa’s history. The issue is whether the BJP and the Bajrang Dal should be permitted to attack those who may have a different view of history. What is highly objectionable is that last Saturday, March 1 a group of Bajrang Dal workers led by the state BJP’s Bajrang Dal president Viraj Dessai confronted the frail 86-year-old Uday Bhembre at his Margao residence. The Bajrang Dal objected to Uday Bhembre challenging Pramod Sawant’s claim that most of Goa was under Shiv Shahi (Shivaji rule) while the Portuguese only controlled three or four taluka.
Bhembre insists that the Bajrang Dal targeting him is part of a nationwide BJP campaign of suppressing the voice of truth. Uday Bhembre rightly points out “right from Goa’s Liberation until four years ago, there was never any antagonism towards Shivaji Maharaj. There were no attempts to glorify him either.”
Shivaji has not been part of Goa’s history. There is no record of Shivaji visiting what is now the state of Goa. Shivaji’s army or his chieftains may have carried out raids on the Portuguese. But, there is no record that any part of Goa was occupied and colonized by Shivaji. Shivaji is not part of Goan history like the Kadamba kings.
In fairness, we have to acknowledge the influence of the Portuguese in Goa during their 500-year presence. First, over the old conquests and later in the new conquests. History should be left to historians. Neither Pramod Sawant nor Uday Bhembre are qualified to talk about the historical impact of Shivaji. Historians like Dr Pratima Kamat and Dr Prajal Shakardande should tell us the extent and the role of Shivaji in Goa and over Goans. Certainly, the Bajrang Dal cannot be considered an authority on Shivaji. It is totally unexpected that the Bajrang Dal should terrorise any Goan who has a different perception of Shivaji’s rule in Goas history.

EXTREMELY COWARDLY
IT is an extremely cowardly to target an 86-year-old eminent citizen of Goa. We should all fight to oppose the dadagiri of Bajrang Dal and other fundamentalist groups seeking to shatter the religious harmony and peace in Goa. Pramod Sawant should follow the example of the late Manohar Parrikar, who kept Pramod Mutalik’s Ram Sene out of Goa. The Ram Sene has attacked Catholic places of worship in Mangalore and even targeted female employees of a call center at a pub in Mangalore.