New Delhi : The inclusion of ‘Maratha Military Landscapes’ in the UNESCO World Heritage List has added another layer to the Center for Maratha heritage and identity, which is coming as Maharashtra head for the important local body elections later this year.Recognition of 12 Maratha forts-11 in Maharashtra and one in Tamil Nadu before the Maharashtra assembly elections, Marathi follows the grant of the center of the classical language, a long-pending demand that became central for the victory of the BJP-led coalition, said the political observance.The opposition has hit a hit on what it says to “HeadlineGabing Cultural Optics”, which is designed to mask governance laps. Cultural emphasis was also clear when the Indian Navy dropped St. George Cross of the colonial era in 2022 for an Encen inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji.PM Modi on Saturday described the UNESCO listing as a moment of national pride. “Each Indian is associated with this belief. These Maratha military scenarios include 12 royal forts, 11 of which are in Maharashtra and one in Tamil Nadu. When we talk about the magnificent Maratha Empire, we inspire it for the good governance, military power, cultural pride and those given by them. Maratha’s history,” Modi posted on social media.Earlier, when Modi unveiled the re -designed Encene of the Navy in Sept 2022, he said, “The identity of slavery has been on the Indian Navy’s flag till now. But from today, Chhatrapati Shivaji, inspired by Shivaji, the new naval flag will fly into the sea and sky.”BJP’s calibrated emphasis on Maratha symbols reflects a major strategy of cultural nationalism woven in state politics. By providing the status of Marathi classical language before the 2024 assembly elections, and now increasing the recognition of UNESCO of Maratha forts, it has demanded to embed itself in the emotional region of regional pride of Maharashtra.For the BJP, which historically has faced challenges in breaking the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress stronghold on the “Maratha Pride” vote, these gestures are a bid to resume political maps and secure urban and semi-urban Marathi voters. Nevertheless, critics argue that such symbolism crowded the argument of the government on an agrarian crisis, urban infrastructure gaps and unemployment, which echo in local elections.The classical language status for Marathi in early 2024 was a long demand from cultural bodies and political groups for more than a decade. Earlier, the government cited procedural obstacles, but the NDA approved the proposal months before the state elections, helping it to tap in a powerful mix of linguistic pride and historical identity.Civil elections, heritage and identity are again becoming a political battlefield.
