Shrikshetra Malanggad land transferred to Waqf Board : Another land jihad?

Religious fanatics harassing Hindu pilgrims

• Strict action must be taken against those who allow ‘jihadi takeover’ of historical forts with Hindu identity!
• There are not enough words to condemn the then Congress-NCP government which gave away Malanggad to religious fanatics under its appeasement ‘policy’!
• Hindus, if this trend of green encroachments on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s forts is not reversed in time, the Waqf Board will stake claim on all your historical heritage!
• Hindu Rashtra is necessary to stop Islamization of forts!

Thane (Maharashtra) : The fanatics have started trying to grab the sacred area of ​​Hindus by transfering the land of Shrikshetra Malanggad, the Shakti Peeth of Hindus, to the Waqf Board. Attempts are being made by fanatics to encroach on this entire fort by increasing their own population. They are also trying to create a pressure group and scare the Hindu pilgrims in the area.

1. Shri Malanggad has the Samadhis of seven of the Navanathas, as well as the Samadhi of the Nathpanthi sadhu Malangbaba. At present, the entire place of Samadhi of Shri Malang Baba has been seized by fanatics.

2. The name of ‘Shrikshetra Malanggad’ has been popularized as ‘Haji Malang’ by erecting a Dargah named after ‘Haji Abdurrahman Malang Shahbaba’ on the Samadhi of ‘Shri Malangbaba’.

3. Fanatics have built another tomb next to the original Samadhi in this Dargah, which is said to belong to Fatika, daughter of Haji Abdurrahman Malang Shah Baba.

4. Till 1989, there were at least 100 houses of Hindus on this fort. At present, only a few houses of Hindus are left on the fort. The increasing encroachment of fanatics on the fort is showing signs of endangering the existence of Hindus on the fort in future.

Attempts to completely destroy the existence of the original Samadhi!

No plaque bearing the name of Shri Malang Baba has been erected at the site of the Dargah erected on the Samadhi site itself. Therefore, the Hindus who visit the fort for the first time do not even realize, ‘where exactly the Samadhi of Shri Malang Baba is?’ All the space around the Dargah is surrounded shops owned by religious fanatics. If the Hindus who come for darshan ask about the Samadhi place or temple, theey do not give any information about the Samadhi or temple of Shri Malang Baba. Instead, they say that there is a Dargah in that place. There is no information plaque or book/booklet with information about the Samadhi of Shri Malang Baba or that this is a Hindu pilgrimage site available here. Therefore, first time Hindu pilgrims are getting confused.

Attempt to show Hindu pilgrims that the place is a dargah !

Hundreds of shops have been set up by fanatics from the foothills of Shri Malanggad right to the tomb. As soon as they start climbing the fort, fanatics insist on selling chadars (blankets) to be offered to the tomb. On the contrary, not even a single Hindu shop owner asks the pilgrims to buy flowers for the darshan of Shri Malang Baba. Hence there is a systematic conspiracy to mislead the Hindu pilgrims into thinking that they are visiting a Dargah.

Attempt to grab Shrikshetra Malanggad land in the name of Waqf Board!

In 2004, when the Congress-NCP alliance was in power in Maharashtra, during the tenure of the then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the government declared that the land of Shrikshetra Malanggad belonged to the Waqf Board. Shiv Sena leader and current Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde and Dinesh Deshmukh filed a petition in the court against this. The court issued a stay on the decision to hand over the land to the Waqf Board. Nasir Khan Fazal Khan, the defendant in the case, reapplied to transfer the land of Shri Malanggad to the Waqf Board despite the stay order. Later, the Charity Commissioner and the state government also transferred the land to the Waqf Board. Hindus have again petitioned the court against this.

This is how fanatics encroached on the fort!

During the Peshwa period, the responsibility of maintaining this area was given to a chief named Ketkar. From 1928 to 1935, this place was looked after by G.B. Atyabai had. Many devotees came to the fort for darshan, including Muslims. A mosque was built here for the convenience of Muslims. After that, fanatics started referring to Shrikshetra Malanggad as ‘Haji Malang’. After that, the fanatics who were here for service encroached on the fort by pretending to be the occupants of this place. Gopal Ketkar, a descendant of the Ketkar family, established a trust called ‘Shri Peer Haji Malangsaheb Dargah’. Since then, the fanatics in the trust have been trying their best to bring this place under the control of the Waqf Board. In 1982, H.H. Mohandada Gokhale, Vamanrao Wagh and Pandurang Salunkhe provided documentary evidence to the Thane District Court that Shri Malanggad was a Hindu pilgrimage site.

Efforts made by Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray to protect Shrikshetra Malanggad!

In 1980, Balasaheb Thackeray himself had met the Charity Commissioner to get the information about the temples on this fort. Later, Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe on the orders of Balasaheb Thackeray visited Shrikshetra Malanggad and led the fight. For this he established ‘Hindu Mancha’.

Hindus on the fort are safe only because of the organized work of various Hindu organizations!

Activists of various organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Valmiki Samaj, Hindu Mahasabha etc. have come together under the banner of ‘Shri Malang Jagran’. On behalf of Shri Malang Jagran, all Hindu festivals are celebrated by visiting the fort, and on every full moon, the Samadhi of Shri Malang Baba is worshiped in the Hindu religious way. The founder of ‘Sadguru Shri Swami Samarth Seva Trust’ at Kalyan, H.H. Modak Maharaj goes to the fort with the devotees and performs Samadhi Pooja and Aarti properly.

Hindus, be alert, lest other forts also go the ‘Haji Malang’ way!

At present, many forts and fortresses, religious places etc. in Maharashtra have been encroached upon by religious fanatics. This is how the encroachment on Shrikshetra Malanggad started. Now the religious fanatics are a majority on this fort and the existence of Hindus is in danger there. By the time the Hindus woke up to this, the fort had fallen into the hands of the fanatics. It seems that fanatics are getting support from the administration and the police. Today, the plight of Shrikshetra Malanggad is the result of the indifference of Hindus. Hindus should realize that if such indifference continues, many areas like this fort will be seized by religious fanatics. Hindus should unite now!

Religious significance of Shrikshetra Malanggad!

Temples of Shri Matsyendranath, the founder of Nath Sampradaya and Gorakshanath, one of the Navanathas are found on this fort. Along with Jalindarnath and Kanifnath, there are Samadhis of 5 other Naths. There are also temples of Shiva, Ganesh and Shri Durgadevi on the fort. Shrikshetra Malanggad is considered to be the spiritual practice centre of sages of Shri Nath Sampradaya since ages.