Make 'wagh nakh' MoU with UK museum public, says Congress leader

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Representational Image

Maharashtra Congress leader Sanjay Lakhe Patil on Monday questioned the delay in getting the "wagh nakh", the tiger claw-shaped weapon reverentially associated with warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, from a museum in the United Kingdom.

He said state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had led a delegation to UK to sign a memorandum of understanding with the museum on October 3 but there has been no movement on the issue since.

Lakhe Patil said a Right to Information plea filed by him with the state cultural affairs department on October 12 was not helpful as the reply stated that details sought cannot be furnished since its involves an agreement with a foreign nation.

Lakhe Patil, a spokesperson of the Maharashtra Congress, said he had gone in appeal against the reply but no hearing has been conducted on the matter.

"The information related to the MoU signed by Mungantiwar must be made public. People have a right to know. The Bharatiya Janata Party is exploiting the wagh nakh issue for political purposes," he said.

The weapon is part of the legends of bravery associated with the Maratha warrior king as it is believed to have been used to kill Bijapur Sultanate general Afzal Khan in 1659.

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