Video shows nurses hurling Thackeray's book at retiring officer, sparks row

A row has erupted with a video purportedly showing a group of nurses at a Mumbai civic hospital hurling books written by Prabodhankar Thackeray and another social reformer at an officer who distributed them as a gift before retiring news agency PTI reported The nurses reportedly claimed that the books hurt their religious sentimentsThe hospital authorities said a probe was underway into the incident that took place on July 29 about a month before the officers retirementWhile a Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader and nurses claimed that no book was flung at anyone the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS said the insult of a social reformer like Prabodhankar Thackeray was an insult to the entire state PTI reportedPrabodhankar Thackeray 18851973 was the father of Shiv Sena founder Bal ThackerayThe retiring section officer of the Kasturba Hospital run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC on September 19 approached the police with a complaint that the video was being circulated to defame him Based on it a noncognisable offence was registered a police officer told PTI on TuesdayThe senior hospital official said an inquiry was underway into the matterThe officer had distributed the books Devlancha Dharm ani Dharmachi Devale The Religion of Temples and the Temples of Religion authored by Prabodhankar Thackeray and Deshache Dushman Enemies of the Country written by Dinkarrao JavalkarHe gifted them as a goodwill gesture at the Kasturba Hospital nearly a month before his retirement sources said on TuesdayPrabodhankar Thackerays book critiques blind faith religious hypocrisy and the commercialisation of religion It urges people to separate true spirituality from ritualistic exploitation carried out in the name of God while Javalkars book points out that true enemies of India are not foreign powers but internal exploiters those who use religion caste and superstition to divide and control societyIn the viral video one of the nurses is heard questioning the officer about why he gave them books that according to her insulted the Hindu religion They later called him to the matrons office and questioned him about itAt the end of the conversation one of them allegedly threw a white envelope containing two books at him before leaving the roomThe officer is also seen apologising to them with folded hands if they felt offended before they hurled the books at him in angerThe video was later circulated in a WhatsApp group of nurses of the Kasturba Hospital from where it was leaked and shared elsewhere before it went viral on social media the sources saidAgripada Police Stations Senior Inspector Sanjay Nale told PTI that the incident took place on July 29The officer complained to the police on September 19 that he was being defamed by the circulation of the video on the incident on WhatsApp groups based on which a noncognisable offence was registered the police officer addedThe hospitals medical superintendent Chandrakant Pawar said an inquiry was underway into the matterMeanwhile a delegation of Shiv Sena UBT leaders including local legislator Manoj Jamsutkar and former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar visited the hospital on TuesdayThe person who distributed the book had centuryold thoughts and ideas and one of the books was even banned Pednekar saidThe retired official was a controversial person and had many complaints against him she addedNo book was flung at anyone There is a difference between throwing the book and not accepting it Two books were distributed in an envelope When the nurse saw the first book Deshache Dushman she refused to accept it The second book of Prabhodhankar Thackeray was not shown to the nurses she saidRutuja Dhadam who has worked as a nurse for 32 years said permission was not taken to distribute the booksI denied accepting the books but he kept insisting that I should take them But he kept persisting for 20 minutes He again told me to accept the book which will help in my prabodhan reformation I told him I dont want to do anything which will create a divide in society Yet he gave three copies of the books in three separate envelopes she saidShe added that it was because of Bal Thackeray that Marathi women got jobs as nurses and can work proudlyMNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said the insult of a social reformer like Prabodhankar Thackeray is an insult of Maharashtra and remarks made against him have crossed all the limits of stupidityDoes the person who made the remarks know who Prabodhankar was Has the person read the work by Prabodhankar He took Maharashtra towards reformist traditions and fought against ill practices in society I think the poison spread by these people is harmful for society Deshpande saidWith PTI inputs