Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep regret and offered a public apology for the recent collapse of a 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra. Speaking at a gathering in Malvan, Palghar district, the Prime Minister addressed the people of Maharashtra, acknowledging the emotional impact of the incident on those who revere Shivaji Maharaj as a deity.
“To those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologize. Our values are different. For us, nothing is bigger than our deity,” PM Modi said.
The statue’s collapse on August 26 has caused significant distress among Shivaji’s admirers. In his address, PM Modi contrasted his approach with that of the opposition, accusing them of failing to apologize for what he described as their continued “insulting and abusing” of Veer Savarkar, another revered figure in Maharashtra.
“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a name for us. Today, I bow my head and apologize to my God, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Our values are different; we are not those who keep abusing and insulting the great son of Mother India, the son of this land, Veer Savarkar. They are not ready to apologize; they are ready to go to the courts and fight,” he added.
During the event, PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for the Vadhvan Port in Palghar, a project with an estimated cost of Rs 76,000 crores. Additionally, he inaugurated and laid the foundation for 218 fisheries projects worth approximately Rs 1,560 crores.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the state government is taking swift action to reconstruct the Shivaji Maharaj statue. Two committees have been formed, including one to investigate the statue’s collapse in the Malvan area.