- Thursday, March 06, 2025
By: PTI
The western Indian state of Maharashtra has approached the Narendra Modi government to get back a sword of 17th century Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which is currently in a museum in the UK, the state’s culture minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Thursday (10).
The state government will also try to reach out to UK prime minister Rishi Sunak in this regard, he told reporters in state capital Mumbai.
“In 2024 we will celebrate 350th anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation. We wish to bring back his `Jagdamba sword’ from the UK. It has been touched by Shivaji Maharaj so it is extremely valuable for us,” the minister, a member of prime minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is also in power in Maharashtra along with Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, said.
“We have started communication with the Union government to bring back the sword from the UK,” he said, adding that Sunak — an Indian-origin leader — has now become the prime minister of that country.
“We will try to have dialogue with the UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. If the UK hands over the sword , it would help us a lot as we are organizing a series of events for the special day in 2024,” Mungantiwar said.
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is from the BJP, said, “It is obvious that we want the sword back, because it is a matter of pride for us.”
[With PTI inputs]
