Aurangzeb, polarized head – Hindu

Police officers prepare Iftar in the grave of Aurangzeb in Khultabad, Maharashtra. |Photo source: Emmanual Yogini

mAharashtra was caught in the controversy of the tomb of Aurangzeb, the 17th-century Mughal ruler, who was placed in Khuldabad in the Sambhajinagar region. Recent violence in Nagpur, the constituency of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari have taken a life and injured dozens of people, including police officers. Although Nagpur police commissioner said the violence was only 800 meters affected, one-third of the city continued to be subject to a strict curfew. The riots came a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi planned to visit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur.

After people on social media dared to use “bulldozer justice” against defendants to use “bulldozer justice”, the state government on Monday razed the ground in the Nagpur violence case, evacuating illegal houses of two main defendants in the Nagpur violence case. The Mumbai High Court will soon be able to keep the demolition drive of the Nagpur municipality and rap for its “masters”.

The accumulation of violence in Nagpur is obvious. It all started after watching together in the National Cabinet for a few days chhaavaallegedly based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, son of Maratha Warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This film shows how Oranzeb tortures and kills Sambaji Maharaj. A few days later, Abu Azmi, the leader of Samawadi Party, said Aurangzeb was not a “cruel leader” and was actually a “good administrator”. Mr. Azmi immediately objected to his comments. Mr. Azmi issued an unconditional apology after registering the case against him and being suspended at the budget meeting of the state assembly. However, the dispute refused to disappear.

Right-wing groups protested in several areas of the state, demanding that Aurangzeb’s grave be destroyed. The Sambajinagar Regional Government must issue a ban order against Milind Ekbote, president of Dharmaveer Sambhaji Maharaj Pratishan, which pays annual tribute to Warrior-King as he threatens to destroy the grave. Shivaji Maharaj’s descendants and BJP leader Udayanraje Bhosale also called for the destruction of Aurangzeb’s grave. Mr. Fadnavis explicitly supported the statement: “Everyone wants the same thing. But it must be done under the authority of the law.” The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

In the past few years, social tensions and controversy around Oranzeb have only increased. In 2023, there were problems with Kolhapur and Beed. In 2022, it caused controversy after Aimim leader Asaduddin Owaisi visited the grave. In fact, this issue has become part of mainstream political discourse. Several Muslim leaders said the community does not consider Aurangzeb an ideal leader. One leader once told me: “I don’t have a name in my phone book.” Although state agencies are raising alarms, claiming that more and more young Muslims are keeping Aurangzeb’s image on their social media accounts. The government is shocked by the status of some social media, not by the legal incidents in the state.

This is just a lot of controversy that has caused public imagination in Maharashtra recently. Over the past month or so, Jhatka meat has been provided with Malhar certification to ensure compliance with Hindu traditions and empowering Hindu community suppliers, and slogans and illegal gatherings in the Shimga procession during the annual temporary parade in coastal areas of the country to point to dangerous social tensions within the society to address dangerous social tensions, which makes it problematic with irrelevant issues. At a time when Maharashtra faces many serious problems, including inflation, unemployment and suicides of farmers, these seem to be strategies for transfer. They are dangerous and fast polarization heads, but not selected. Now, a medieval Mughal ruler (RSS) itself “insignificant” has gained importance in the eyes of the state government. Signs of deterioration in governance are obvious.