Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 19: Members of the Maratha community residing and working in Jammu today celebrated the 393rd birth anniversary of the great Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with much fanfare at Jain Bazar here.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) J&K Executive member, Raman Suri, who is also the president of Sarafa Association Jammu presided over the programme along with Kulbhushan Anand Chairman Swarnkar Sangh Ad-hoc Committee Jammu City, Amit Luthra general secretary, Ashutosh Kapoor former president, Swarnkar Sangh Jammu City besides, prominent attendees Mayank Kapoor, Surinder Sharma and Ajay Verma.
The programme, which was organized by the Maratha community members Vikram Babar, Raju Bosla, Ajay Kirdar, Ravi Jadhav, Sunny Shinda and others hailing from Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and other areas of Maharashtra, started with garlanding the statue of Shivaji Maharaj at Cee Ess Market, followed by the recitation of Bhajans and later on, langar was distributed amongst common people.
Speaking on the occasion, Raman Suri said, “popularly known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, this Indian ruler founded the Maratha Empire and was crowned in 1674 at the Raigad Fort in Pune. Born on February 19, 1630, this great warrior breathed his last at the age of just 50 but during his rise, he scared the Mughals like no one else”.
Known for his administrative and war skills, Shivaji Maharaj was such a legend that today stories of his victories are read and narrated across the length and breadth of India. He was instrumental in the freedom struggle against foreign invaders and was also known for his love and passion for preservation of the Indian culture, Raman Suri said, adding that the forts built and captured by him also stand as witnesses to the way he trained his army into war tactics.
He also promoted Marathi and Sanskrit languages and even replaced Persian that was widely used in courts and administrative works.
The BJP leader urged the Government to name one big roundabout after the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and install his statue there. Several other community members also spoke on the occasion and paid tributes to the great warrior who defeated the Mughal General, Afzal Khan and captured forts in Maharashtra, thereby expanding his empire.
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