Exhibition on Shivaji to depict him as modern hero

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: While Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is busy pouring vitriol on people from Bihar, his son Uddhav has found another occasion to reaffirm the party’s belief in the Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Uddhav will take part in the inaugration of an exhibition on Shivaji organised by the Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT), which will have paintings depicting the Maratha warrior as a modern hero.
The others who will share the dais with the Sena leader will be chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi, national general secretary of BJP and former deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde at the [rohramme to be held at the P L Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy, Ravindra Natya Mandir in Prabhadevi on March 12. The exhibition, ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj: A hero for Modern
India’, which is being sponsored by Prafull Goradia, will be inaugurated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
According to the organisation, religiously-inspired acts of terror cannot be fought on the streets. “Terrorism begins at the level of idea and belief. It has to be dealt with knowledge, better ideas and broader beliefs. The acts must be tackled before it affects the lives of innocent people. Kashmir and Bangladesh are an example of what terrorism can do to to human life.’’ FACT sponsors aims to educate and provide solutions to terroraffected hot spots around the world, says the organisation.
Francois Gautier, convener of FACT, will hold a press meet on March 11 to talk about the exhibition. Born in Paris, Gautier is a French journalist and a writer who has been in India for 33 years. For eight years, he was the political correspondent in India and South Asia for “Le Figaro’’.

The Shivaji Fact Award

The Shivaji Fact Award

FACT has instituted an annual Shivaji FACT award of Courage, given to person(s) / Institutions who have embodied Shivaji’s virtues of courage, fearlessness, devotion to Mother India, respect for all. The first one will be awarded by HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the 12th of March in Mumbai when he opens the Shivaji conference/exhibition.
Shivaji, was endowed with talents of the highest order and a clear vision, the only one who stood-up to the injustice. He had also an inspiring and endearing personality which spontaneously commanded respect, loyalty and the highest sacrifices from his devoted soldiery and peasants.

Shivaji is relevant today because embodied all the qualities that politicians should possess, but do not always have: he was just, firm and stood for the weak; he was an honest and able administrator; he confronted the enemy and was not cowed into submission; he was devoted to Mother India, who appeared to him as Bhavani; he was ruthless with his enemies, but spared women, children and his own people; he had respect for all religions.

12th March, 4 PM, Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mumbai
Award bestowed by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
In the presence of Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shri Narendra Modi & Shri Gopinath Munde