As Maharashtra celebrates its 63rd Foundation Day, some politicians in the state are causing controversy over the location of a petroleum refinery at Barsu village in the Sindhudurga district. Nothing highlights the hypocrisy and doublespeak of the Shiv Sena, the principal opposition party in the state, more vividly than this. A forward-looking Maharashtra is being forced to close doors to development and take the path of negativism.
One wonders what happened to its much-touted legacy of progressivism. Maharashtra was once known for intellectual giants such as Lokmanya Tilak, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and C D Deshmukh, social reformers like Mahatma Phule, builders of institutions that revolutionised popular thinking like Dr Hedgewar, Vinoba Bhave, Maharshi Karve and Vithal Ramji Shinde, freedom fighters like VD Savarkar, and politicians like YB Chavan. Recently, Maharashtra seems to be struggling to provide truly honest intellectual leadership.
