LATUR: Members of the BJP’s youth wing on Sunday staged a protest in Maharashtra’s Latur city against the remarks of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray about the ‘wagh nakh’, the iconic tiger claw-shaped weapon of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Thackeray had asked if the ‘wagh nakh’ being brought to Maharashtra from a museum in the United Kingdom would stay here permanently or was it on loan and whether it belonged to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or was it from that era.
The protesters, who assembled at Gandhi Chowk in the city, accused Thackeray of hurting the sentiments of the followers of Shivaji Maharaj.
The wagh nakh was used by Shivaji Maharaj to kill Bijapur general Afzal Khan in 1659.
Maharashtra culture minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and officials from his department are slated to go to the UK on October 3 to get the fabled weapon back.
Thackeray on Saturday attributed his comments about the authenticity of wagh nakh to the information shared on the website of the London-based Victoria and Albert Museum, where the weapon is currently kept.
Earlier in the day, senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Thackeray’s comments about the wagh nakh were “childish” and unworthy of a response.
Fadnavis also said that the ‘(undivided) Shiv Sena’ had a history of asking such “insulting” questions and alleged that its leader Sanjay Raut had once questioned the lineage of the legendary warrior king.
