This week, we celebrate 60 years of the formation of the state of Maharashtra. I extend my best wishes to every Maharashtrian and my deepest gratitude to everyone who is bravely battling for us against COVID-19.
Maharashtra Divas is celebrated with pride and celebration across Marathi households. Together, we remember the struggles of our united past and rejoice in the establishment of our shared legacy through language, culture and statehood. As we step into the 60th year of our glorious state in these difficult and dark times, it is important to introspect and remember where we come from, where we are and the goal towards which are we marching.
Maharashtra has always been a base for social reformists, thinkers, intellectuals and activists. In Medieval India, reform was ushered in the field of devotion through Bhakti Marg and Varkari Sampraday. Saints like Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram propagated the philosophy of equality in spirituality. The principles of religious tolerance and women empowerment cemented by visionary warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj laid the ground for the progressive mindset which proved to be the basis for several major social reforms in the 18th and 19th century. In the late 19th century, egalitarian reforms in Maharashtra had three distinct veins: Women's education and empowerment, Mahatma Phule's anti-caste, truth-seeking society and the organizational endeavors initiated by Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar for the education and rights of the underprivileged.
Maharashtra was a frontrunner in India's war for independence, producing countless freedom fighters, moderates and radicals alike. After independence, the road ahead for the Maharashtrian people would be full of further struggle, protests and patience. The concept of a separate state for Marathi-speaking people had been established since the idea of Swaraj by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century. However, after independence, it was only in 1956 that the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was formed under the aegis of Keshavrao Jedhe in Pune. Prominent activists like Atre, Prabodhankar Thackeray, Senapati Bapat and Shahir Amar Shaikh and many others made invaluable contributions to the state we call home today.
It was Shri Yashwantrao Chavan Saheb, the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra, who led us and our newly-formed state into the bright future. An ingenious and intuitive leader, Chavan Saheb was more than a political leader, he was the voice of the common people in the state and a true statesman! He guided our state to greatness with planning in the fields of agriculture, water resources, small-scale industries and panchayat raj. His values and principles firmly established Maharashtra on progressive and rational lines.
Even with the victory of state formation, challenges kept erupting. Among them were the Muslim Satyashodhak Samaj led by Hamid Dalwai, Baba Adhav's' Ek Gaav-Ek Panavatha' movement, the Yuvak Kranti Dal and the Dalit Panther protests. Aggressive language and satyagrahi actions were the hallmarks of these movements. Baba Amte's Anandvan emerged as a training center for socialist activists. Post-emergency, our state was once again gifted with a 38-year old Chief Minister in Padma Vibhushan Sharadchandraji Pawar, a true visionary, as subsequent decades would prove multiple times. Padma Vibhushan Sharadchandraji Pawar's immense intuition, insight and intelligence saw the state excel rapidly in agriculture and industries. He reiterated values of welfare, promoting social equality and equity.
Post emergency, a lull was evident in youth movements in Maharashtra and in the following decade, the women's liberation movement gained momentum. Maharashtra had been the pioneer in championing the cause of women's education and emancipation. Journals like 'Baija' and 'Stree' became the mouthpieces of women's liberation in the 1980s. Various women and public organizations were formed and took the cause forward. These organizations met the various demands of women's health, hygiene, livelihood, protection, including those of abandoned and verbally divorced women.
This led to the enactment of new laws to protect women against domestic violence, female foeticide, and sexual harassment in the workplace. Maharashtra was the first state in India to enact 30% reservation for women in local bodies under the leadership of Shri Sharad Pawar, and with his untiring efforts over the years, it is now 50%.
Many would say that in the last decade, the legacy of social change within Maharashtra has slowed down. It is true that in the last 10 years, many movements for social equality and social progress have reached a dormant stage in this progressive state. We have excelled in various domains of social justice, education, health, local governance, infrastructure and economic development over the last 60 years, and a still greater course is yet to be covered. Any kind of social numbness which seems to be pervasive should be shunned since our beloved state is in an uphill battle in many fronts, especially today. We face two great threats which cannot be seen. On one hand, an attack on our heath and livelihood by COVID-19 and on the other, an attack on our personal freedom by the pangs of communalism.
A defining characteristic of Maharashtra has been that of secularism. Practiced and propagated by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, secularism found its roots in Maharashtrian society early, and has inspired the formation and flow of our present society. We have been a people of various faiths who have survived together to live freely together. Against the several ugly communal onslaughts taking place in the country, Maharashtra was the first state to break age-old political barriers, to unite to defend the age-old Maharashtrian spirit of secularism. The Maha Vikaas Aghadi has been a role model for every secular force around the world. Under the very capable administration of Shri Uddhav Thackeray, we have the opportunity to carry on the progressive principles of Maharashtra. It is in our history to struggle and emerge victorious.
Today as we fight, as the worst hit state in India, in the war against COVID 19, we must keep hope. Maharashtra has been plagued by many natural and unnatural disasters through time and we have survived. The government is working every minute and every hour only for the protection and welfare of the people, but it is the people whose mental strength is the most vital at this hour.
(Jayant Patil is the Maharashtra Cabinet Minister for Water Resources)
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