‘Being invited to events our only honour’

BITHOOR: Though it has a big compound, the

house

of Tantya Tope—a leader of the first war of Independence in 1857—in

Bithoor

is located in a crowded locality near the famous Ganesh mandir and there is nothing outstanding about it. The compound of the brick-and-mortar building has been encroached and the descendants have been fighting a legal battle for ages for their removal. The house has only two remnants from that era—a well from where

Tantya Tope

drew water and the mud wall. The well has a cemented eddy and the wall is still strong.

None of the successive UP governments did anything for the family. Though the 400-page visitors’ register kept at the family’s museum in the front hall of the house is almost full, “No one has helped us,” said Vinayak Rao Tope, son of Tantya’s nephew, Narayan Rao Tope. The only

honour

the family keeps receiving is being invited at random events to be presented a

shawl

, he said, adding, “I was even called by Raj Bhawan for ‘poochh-taachh’ (enquiry) about my family background but nothing happened.”

“Modiji kehte hain na ki jiska ghar hai ussi ka rahega, is liye jo zabardasti ghus bhi gaye hain woh kab tak rahenge (We believe in what Modi says that house would always belong to the owner. Those who have entered forcefully will not live for long),” said the woman of the house, Vinayak Rao’s wife Sumati Tope about the encroachment. But asked if ‘Modiji‘ or his party ever came calling, Sumati’s answer is “No”.

This fourth generation of Tantya Tope said they were indebted to “Laluji” (former railway minister and Bihar ex-CM Lalu Prasad Yadav). As railway minister in 2007 Lalu offered a job to Vinayak Rao Tope’s daughters in the container department of railways. “When Laluji came to our house, he saw the well and marvelled at its construction,” she said, adding, “We were called to Delhi too. Laluji got every fact about us verified before he gave my daughters the job,” said the woman.

Vinayak Rao was running a ‘parchoon’ (grocery) shop at that time. “We were discovered by a Delhi-based journalist who told Laluji about us and he helped us. Now that our daughters are married, we are at odds again,” she said. Their son has completed graduation and has done a 14-month course in computers but has no job. Both father and son are now into ‘panditaai’ (priesthood) to make a living.

There are about nine Marathi families residing in Bithoor. The Moghe family too has a Peshwa-era connect. Living at Dhruv Teela in Bithoor, it’s the sixth generation of Raja Ram Pant Moghe, one of the five commanders sent by Bajirao Peshwa (I) in 1700 to guard Bithoor. Bajirao Peshwa (I) was the general of the Maratha empire in India. None of the Peshwa's direct descendants is left in Bithoor. The descendants of other commanders are also not found in the city.

“Bithoor was called ‘Veeron ka thaur’ or the hub of bravehearts but British could not pronounce it and they distorted the title and it came to be known as Bithoor,” said Sunny Rao Moghe sitting at his more-than-300-year-old home at Dhruv Teela. The house is decrepit and because of the weathered off plaster, the lakhauri bricks, of which the wall of the compound is made is visible. New construction comprises the main entry door, a temple at the centre and two rooms.

In 1996, archaeological department took possession of the Teela. The family is entwined in a legal battle with the department since then. Dattatreya temple at the Teela receives several VIP visitors. When TOI visited the spot on Tuesday, sitting MLA from SP Munindra Shukla’s wife had come to offer prayers at the temple. Moghe family is respected in Bithoor for the lineage. Ask anyone on the Bithoor’s streets, and he would know of the family. Politicians come asking for vote. “But none of us ever got any help be it in the form of government job or a pension," said one of the family members.

Moghe’s also have around six beegha land almost adjacent to the house. “We owned several beegha land but most got encroached,” said Sunny Rao Moghe. “We got our land under ‘Sankramani Bhumidari’ where Chakbandi does not apply,” he said. A rusted, more than 300-year old sword with frayed edges, of Raja Ram Pant Moghe, is also one of the prized possessions of the family.

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