BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte wrote letters to Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh and state chief secretary J K Banthia on Thursday—a few days ahead of Dr BR Ambedkar's death anniversary on December 6, when 10 lakh Dalits are expected to converge at Shivaji Park. City administrators, it is learned, fear that even the smallest of confrontations between the pilgrims and the Sainiks guarding the edifice at the Park could flare up into a law-and-order problem.
Republican Party of India (RPI-A ) chief Ramdas Athavale tried to put those concerns to rest. In a statement that Sena organ Saamna front-paged on Friday, Athavale said his party was in favour of a Thackeray memorial at Shivaji Park. He urged Dalits to visit the makeshift edifice on December 6 to pay tribute to the late Sena supremo.
"This is Sena and RPI's astute move to retain the edifice in an bid to turn it into a permanent memorial," said a Congress functionary from Dadar. The RPI-A is a partner in the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. A senior Sena functionary said: "We want the Balasaheb memorial to be set up at Shivaji Park. We will not settle for any other site. The Park is an integral part of Sena's history. The party was born there."
Matoshree, all this while, has taken measured steps on the issue. Partymen have been asked to guard the makeshift edifice built at the spot where Bal Thackeray's funeral pyre was set up. Soon after Shivaji Park residents voiced concern about a Thackeray memorial coming up at the Park, Sena CEO Uddhav Thackeray said there was no need to create a stir. He urged the memorial's detractors to help Sainiks retain patience. "The matter will be decided by Shiv Sainiks," he said.
Sena was given permission under special provisions of the BMC Act to use Shivaji Park for a day so that it could hold Bal Thackeray's cremation there.
In view of the thorny situation, Kunte recently had a meeting with Banthia and additional chief secretary (home) Amitabh Rajan. "The bureaucracy and police top brass have expressed their view (on the makeshift edifice). Now it is up to Chavan to take a decision. Senior officials and policemen are expected to brief the CM in a day or two," said a senior civil servant.
Govt nod, for a day
On November 17, mayor Sunil Prabhu and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut applied for special permission to cremate party chief Bal Thackeray at Shivaji Park Considering that a law and order problem may arise if permission was not granted, the BMC, after a marathon meeting with the CM, granted special permission for the cremation on November 18. The BMC expected that since the permission was granted for a specific purpose, the Shiv Sena would remove the temporary structure on its own after the cremation, in three to five days.
The scene, 13 days later
The day after the cremation, the Shiv Sena demanded construction of a Thackeray memorial at the spot where he was cremated, at Shivaji Park It turned the makeshift stage in a corner of Shivaji Park, near the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue, into a virtual memorial Thackeray's body had initially been kept on a wooden stage at a nearby spot, to enable several dignitaries to pay homage.
A huge photo of Bal Thackeray has been kept on the makeshift edifice which has been elaborately decorated, along with several banners Bhajans are sung and flowers offered at the site daily by people who come to visit the place At least four Shiv Sena workers attend to the stage at any given time, working in shifts Halogen lights have been put up around the stage.
Sena's fait accompli?
Sainiks were asked to guard the makeshift edifice built for the funeral pyre. Analysts say that the Sena gameplan is to continue with paraphernalia at the site and thus serve the government with a fait accompli.
RPI support for ally
RPI chief Ramdas Athavle emphasized support for a Shivaji Park memorial and exhorted Dalits to pay tribute to Thackeray at the park on December 6, when they come to pay homage to Dr Ambedkar.
Shivaji park in the coastal regulatory zone
The Shivaji Park area falls under CRZ-3. Therefore, under the CRZ norms, no temporary or permanent structure can come up at the ground. Any such structure is in violation of provisions of section 3 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, hence its violation is an offence under the said Act.
A petition to the coastal authority
Lawyer Abha Singh, in a petition to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, claims the structure on which Thackeray was consigned to flames, was allowed against the law. "According to the CRZ Notification, 2011, Shivaji Park has been classified as being in CRZ-3 , a no-development zone. This means no construction can be done. Yet, there is unauthorised construction of a temporary memorial-type structure at Shivaji Park," said Abha Singh.
Options before the Prithiviraj Chavan government
CM Prithviraj Chavan has already rejected the memorial proposal, saying it is legally untenable Chavan is likely to persuade Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray to remove the structure as early as possible, preferably in a day or two, to avoid law and order problems on December 6, Dr B R Ambedkar's death anniversary. Another option before the state government is to offer an alternate site, in the vicinity of Shivaji Park, but that seems unlikely due to the dearth of space.
The government could persuade senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi to provide land for the memorial in his Kohinoor Mill, behind the park, but Joshi has so far kept silent.
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