Distortion of history will give wrong message to future generation: NCP leader Awhad

Thane, Nov 13: Former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad, who was arrested two days back in a case of disrupting a show of Marathi film "Har Har Mahadev" at a theatre here, has said distorting history will give a wrong message to the future generation.

Talking to reporters in Maharashtra's Thane city after being granted bail by a court here on Saturday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader maintained that the movie distorted the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Mahara. This has not only defamed the Maratha king but also the tarnished the state's image and it will not be tolerated, he said.

On November 7, Awhad and his supporters forcibly stopped a show of "Har Har Mahadev" at a multiplex inside a mall in Thane city, alleging the film distorted the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Some moviegoers were also beaten up when they protested against the disruption, videos of the incident showed. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered over the incident at Vartak Nagar police station under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (assault) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).

Awhad claimed he was asked to be present at the Vartak Nagar police station for an enquiry at 5 pm on Friday, but was placed under arrest at 2.30 pm without proper legal formalities. The police were helpless and the orders had come from "higher authorities", he further claimed, adding that he had saved the man who was allegedly manhandled at the multiplex on November 7. Awhad said he was ready to face the consequences for fighting against the distortion of historical facts. "Presenting history in a distorted manner will give a wrong message to the future generation and this should be stopped," the NCP leader said.

He said the censor board, while certifying a movie, should also verify the historical facts presented in it. By dubbing the movie in different languages, there was a conspiracy to defame the Maratha warrior king, Awhad claimed. On Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray giving a voice-over for the movie, Awhad appealed to the political leader to desist from giving the voice-over for films which distort history.

PTI