While the Haji Malang Dargah — falling under survey no. 134 — remained untouched, the demolitions were undertaken at approximately 40 structures situated near Sultan Baba’s Dargah, which falls under survey number 211 and is situated on the pathway leading upto the Haji Malang shrine.

 

 

According to Vivek Natu, Range Forest Officer, the drive was carried out in a bid to demolish the newly built structures to prevent encroachments in the forest area.

 

On 3rd January, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena Chief Eknath Shinde while addressing an event in Thane reiterated the party’s commitment to liberate Malanggad, Shinde said that Anand Dighe had initiated the liberation movement of Malanggad which led to the chant “Jai Malang Shri Malang”.

 

He said, “Your sentiments towards Malanggad are well known to me. It was Anand Dighe who initiated the liberation movement of Malanggad, leading us to chant ‘Jay Malang Shri Malang’. However, I must tell you that there are certain matters that aren’t meant for public discussion. I’m aware of the deep-rooted beliefs you hold about Malanggad’s liberation. Let me say this that Eknath Shinde will not stay quiet till he fulfills your wishes.”

 

In February 2023, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde performed aarti at the site and offered a saffron covering inside the dargah. 

 

 

 

Shiv Sena in the 1980s started a movement to reclaim the Hindu temple which was captured and converted into Haji Malang Dargah.

 

The site, situated on a hillock south of Kalyan, is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. While there is a dargah there named after Sufi saint Haji Abdul Rahman Malang, the trust claims it is 800 years old, hindu groups and especially the Shiv Sena in Thane district from the 1980s has claimed it as a temple of Hindu saint Shri Macchindra Nath.

In 1980s, prominent Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe – who was Eknath Shinde’s political mentor – led the first agitation claiming that the structure was the location of an old Hindu shrine belonging to the Nath Panth.

 

Dighe began an agitation claiming that the shrine belonged to Hindus and that it was a site of a 700-year-old Machindranath temple. In 1996, Dighe reportedly took the then state Chief Minister Manohar Joshi and some 20,000 Shiv Sainiks to the shrine to perform pooja on the occasion of Magh Purnima. Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had also attended the pooja. It is since then that the structure has been called Shri Malanggad.

 

The Gazetteers of Bombay Presidency published in 1882 states that the shrine was built in honour of an Arab missionary, Haji Abd-ul-Rahman. He reportedly arrived with a bunch of followers from Yemen and settled on the lower plateau of the hill. The Pir Haji Malang Saheb Trust, which manages the dargah, has had members from both Hindu and Muslim communities