Kurush F Dalal: Why build memorial for emperor who had nothing to do with Mumbai?

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced last week that the Shivaji Memorial in the Arabian Sea would be built at a cost of Rs 3,600 crore

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced last week that the Shivaji Memorial in the Arabian Sea would be built at a cost of Rs 3,600 crore

On October 26, newspaper headlines screamed out that the cash-strapped Maharashtra government had decided to go through with the mid-sea memorial to Shivaji Maharaj, smack dab in the middle of the bay off the south coast of Mumbai. This colossal exercise of self-aggrandisement was pegged at a whopping R3,600 crore of the taxpayers' money.

Proposed by the previous government, this poisoned plum had lain too long in the hands of the present one. It was a no-win situation for the government; it was damned if it did and damned if it didn't. No politician in Maharashtra in his right mind feels that he can oppose this sacred cow. Our honourable chief minister and his team didn't for a minute think of the state or its people; they didn't think that spending this much is like virtually snatching food and education from the poorest; they didn't stop for a moment to assess the ecological damage and degradation. And, they didn't stop to think of the feasibility of actually executing this within a city whose infrastructure is bursting at the seams.

But, perhaps, most heinous is the historical crime that they committed. The seven islands that were joined to make up the island city are a British legacy. The northern suburbs of Mumbai were securely in the hands of the Portuguese during the time of the Maratha emperor, and he had nothing - yes, nothing whatsoever - to do with the city of Mumbai. Thus, building a memorial to Shivaji in Mumbai makes no sense. There are over 300 forts scattered throughout the hills and the coast of Maharashtra - the impregnable mountain redoubts like Rajgad and the imposing capital at Raigad - which are a legacy of Shivaji and his times. The sea forts of Shivaji are a testament to his canny acumen that the danger was from over the seas.

Yet, that isn't where the government - that keeps shouting out his name and says it is following his values - decided to build a befitting memorial to him. Forget about a memorial, these forts and fortresses, and the cannons and the buildings within them, are in a terrible state. The walls are slowly crumbling away and every second day, one hears of a cannon being cut and stolen in bits and parts to be sold as scrap.

The amount could set up a separate agency to deal with his legacy and it would ultimately end up conserving every single one of these forts, adding to our knowledge and employing the youth of rural Maharashtra, whilst giving a new fillip to history and culture.

But, no. the government, which is yet to appoint a director to the department of archaeology and museums - it has been almost 20 years since the last time an archaeologist, Dr AP Jamkhedkar, headed this body - who could tell them what they need to know, is oblivious of the needs of the state. That the cultural heritage of Maharashtra is crumbling everywhere, and that the department is crippled without funds and the appointment of requisite personnel is inconsequential in the face of symbolism and monument building.

Appointing a director they cannot do, but they can squander Rs 3,600 crore on a memorial to a man who had nothing to do with Mumbai, never visited Mumbai in his lifetime and in which he showed no interest. The allocated budget could revamp the cultural heritage of Maharashtra and generate awareness and employment, something more in line with the ethos of Shivaji than this absolutely empty gesture by a government bankrupt of ideas and common sense.

The writer is an assistant professor of archaeology in the University of Mumbai