The DCP on February 26 had refused to allow the Sena to carry out a procession all over Kalyan with a picture of Afzal Khan’s assassination.
The Shiv Sena can bring out a procession in Kalyan on Wednesday to mark the 350th anniversary of Afzal Khan’s assassination. But posters of Shivaji killing Khan can be showed only in the Rambag area, the Bombay high court said on Tuesday.
“We are keeping the larger interest of the country and public safety in our mind,” the court said.
Vijay Salvi, the Sena’s Kalyan unit chief, had moved the court challenging the order of the DCP Zone III, Thane. The DCP on February 26 had refused to allow the Sena to carry out a procession all over Kalyan with a picture of Afzal Khan’s assassination.
History has it that Shivaji and Afzal Khan, a lord in the court of Adil Shah of Bijapur, agreed to meet at Pratapgadh without any arms. Khan, however, tried to suffocate Shivaji with his force under the guise of an embrace. Shivaji who had apprehended such an attack was prepared with a weapon called wagh nakh (tiger claws), an iron finger-grip with razor claws. He had hidden it in his fist. The poster shows the disembowelment of Khan.
The DCP did not allow the Sena to display the picture because it had caused communal riots in Miraj last year. Salvi’s advocate Rajesh Datar, however, said that factual depiction of history could not be erased because it is ‘unpalatable to a section of the society’.
The court, however, said the procession should not be carried out all over Kalyan, especially not in ‘sensitive areas’. “You (Salvi) have the right to express your feelings,” justice Ranjana Desai said. “We are not taking that away from you but do it only in a particular area.”
After consulting the DCP’s office, additional public prosecutor VB Konde-Deshmukh told the court that picture could be displayed only in the Rambag area of Kalyan. The court said they expected sufficient police presence in Kalyan and that the petitioner would not take any steps that could disrupt public peace.
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