After Muslim women offered namaz at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada Fort, BJP MP Medha Kulkarni ‘purified’ the place with cow urine. The move is being criticized as an attempt at electoral polarization.
Pune: An MP is facing sharp criticism for ‘purifying’ the place where Muslim devotees offered prayers in Pune, Maharashtra. The BJP MP cleaned with cow urine the place in the historic Shaniwar Wada Fort built by Bajirao I, where Muslim women had offered namaz. Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni is behind this controversial action. This is his next controversial step after stopping the Navratri festival in Pune city a few days ago. This controversial action of the BJP MP happened on Sunday. Medha Kulkarni, with the support of hard-right parties, ‘purified’ that part of Shaniwar Wada Fort. NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have condemned this move of Medha Kulkarni. There is criticism that this step of Medha Kulkarni is aimed at communal polarization in the local elections.
Video of Muslim women praying in the fort went viral on Friday
The Purifier Organization and radical right wing organizations had jointly taken out a protest march. A video was going viral since Friday, in which some Muslim tourists were offering namaz at Shaniwar Wada Fort. The Rajya Sabha MP washed this same place with cow urine. After this, Medha Kulkarni returned after performing ‘Shiv Vandana’ at that place. The MP took this controversial step after propagating on social media that namaz would not be allowed at Shaniwar Wada Fort. He visited the fort after tweeting ‘Wake up Hindu devotees, come to Shaniwar Wada’.
The MP defended his controversial move saying that this ‘cleansing’ was done to maintain communal harmony in Pune. Medha Kulkarni said that the fort is not a mosque, but it is under the protection of the Archaeological Department and is one of the symbols of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Responding to the criticism, he asked whether Hindu devotees would be allowed to perform aarti at the mosque inside the Taj Mahal. Many parties including NCP are alleging that these efforts of the MP are an attempt to polarize keeping in mind the local elections.