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Davanagere: The Karnataka Police removed a cutout depicting Mughal commander Afzal Khan being killed by Chhatrapati Shivaji in Davanagere city on Friday, citing law and order concerns.

The cutout had been installed as part of Ganesha festival celebrations. Tension prevailed in the area after members of one community strongly objected to the cutout erected in the communally-sensitive Mattikallu locality, leading to arguments between members of two communities on Thursday night.

The jurisdictional RMC Yard police arrived to remove the cutout, but their move was opposed by some Hindu activists.

The police had given the devotees a deadline of 10.30 A.M. to remove the cutout and warned of legal action if they failed to comply.

Hindu activists convened a meeting and decided to demand that if the police insisted on removing the Afzal Khan cutout, they should also remove all cutouts of Mysuru’s erstwhile rulers Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali installed across the district.

However, by Friday morning, the devotees themselves decided to remove the cutout and erected a new poster of Chhatrapati Shivaji alone.

Authorities heaved a sigh of relief after the development, as the Mattikallu locality had witnessed stone pelting and violent incidents during the Ganesha procession last year.

The devotees have also installed a Vinayak Savarkar cutout this year.

It may be remembered that when Chhatrapati Shivaji started expanding in the Konkan territory, the Bijapur Sultanate felt insecure and in 1659 Adil Shah II appointed Afzal Khan as commander to crush him.

Under the guise of having discussions close to Pratapgad Fort, Afzal Khan tried to ambush and murder Shivaji, but expecting deceit, Shivaji retaliated with hidden weapons such as the tiger claw (Wagh Nakh), and murdered the much heavier general.

In recent years, the BJP government has, however, been charged with attempting to distort such historical accounts by suppressing or minimizing Mughal contribution, even though they ruled for centuries and left their indelible stamp on India’s culture, architecture, and administration; school textbooks have been rewritten in BJP-governed states to minimize or eliminate Mughal history, part of a general political intention to magnify Hindu rulers and vilify or marginalize Muslim ones, an action critics assert tends towards communal polarization and simplification of India’s rich heritage.

Earlier on Wednesday, attacking the government in Karnataka, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje criticised it for placing restrictions on Ganesha festivities.

“Earlier, the police had taken the idol of Ganesha and placed it in a police vehicle. This year too, the government has introduced peculiar rules and regulations,” the BJP leader criticised.

“I ask the government, why have so many restrictions been imposed on the Ganesha festival? Once a year, people install Ganesha idols, worship them, celebrate, and take out processions. But the government is imposing regulations and curbing their celebrations. The restrictions must be rolled back immediately. The Ganesha festival was an inspiration during the freedom struggle,” Union Minister Karandlaje stated.

Expelled BJP leader and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, while questioning the restrictions, has challenged the authorities not to “dare interfere in the Ganesha festival celebrations in Vijayapura Assembly constituency.”

(With inputs from IANS)