Right wing outfits shelve Aurangzeb issue | Mumbai news

Mumbai/Nagpur: A fortnight after prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal advocated razing Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb from Khuldabad on the outskirts of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, the right-wing organisations have walked back on their demand.

The first to signal end to any threat to the monument, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, was the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh which termed the issue as “irrelevant.” On Monday, senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi underscored the organisation’s stand when he said, “Aurangzeb died here and is therefore buried here. Some people may revere him and visit his tomb. Let them. We should not forget that our ideal Shivaji Maharaj himself allowed Afzal Khan (Aurangzeb’s emissary and commander) to be buried close by. This (Aurangzeb’s grave) is a symbol of India’s culture of tolerance and pluralism.”

Also Read: Two booked for outraging religious sentiments over social media post on Aurangzeb

The RSS’s stance has led its affiliate, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, to suspend its agitation. “We initiated the movement to reflect the public sentiment against Aurangzeb. However, we have now paused it and instead urged the government to take a positive decision,” said Govindrao Shende, regional secretary of the VHP for Maharashtra and Goa. “At this stage, we are giving the Union government, the ASI, and the state government time to make a decision,” said Shedge, clarifying that no deadline was under consideration.

Also Read: Union minister suggests alternative to removing Aurangzeb’s tomb: ‘Build a memorial…’

Earlier in March, the Hindi film ‘Chhaava’ loosely inspired by events in the life of Shivaji Maharaj’s son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, and his tortuous death at the hands of Aurangzeb, had inflamed a large section of the public, and BJP leaders like lawmakers Udyanraje Bhosale, Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane had sought to cash in on the sentiment. They were the first to raise the demand that Auragzeb’s bones should be interred and his grave be moved from Maharashtra. Chief minister Devendra Fadanavis had himself, while the Maharashtra Assembly was on, had seconded the demand and blamed previous Congress governments for protecting the monument by law. Samajwadi party lawmaker Abu Asim Azmi was suspended from the Assembly for terming the emperor who died over 300 years ago as a “good ruler.”

This whipped-up frenzy and the demand for the razing of the tomb took a violent turn on March 17 when a riot broke out between a group of Hindus and Muslims barely 500 meters away from RSS’s Nagpur headquarter Keshav Kunj, and in which one person lost his life. According to a state BJP leader, immediately after the violence broke out the RSS asked the BJP and other outfits to bury their demand.

“Since then, not one person has spoken again about razing the tomb,” said the BJP leader requesting anonymity. A senior RSS functionary, also speaking anonymously, admitted that the RSS had been left displeased by the agitation. “This was a miscommunication between the parent body and the VHP,” he said. However, he reaffirmed that the RSS does not support the glorification of Aurangzeb. But the issue of his tomb is no longer relevant and violence over it is harmful to society, he added.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis too sought to calm the situation. On Monday, speaking to the media at Nagpur, from where he is an elected MLA, Fadnavis said Aurangzeb’s tomb is a protected monument. “Whether we like Aurangzeb or not, his tomb is a protected site, and it’s our duty protect the law. But neither will we allow anyone to glorify the tomb,” he said.

A day prior, while speaking at his annual Gudi Padwa rally in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, cautioned against “WhatsApp history” and called for protecting the tomb which was ultimately, he said, “a symbol of the bravery of Marathas because the all-powerful Mughal king had failed to finish off the Maratha kingdom despite his over two decade-long Deccan campaign.”

Another senior BJP leader who did not want to be quoted, said: “The controversy did not really gain public traction beyond a point. Additionally, Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state’s home minister, felt the Nagpur violence had damaged the image of his government as well as the party.”

Shreeraj Nair, national spokesperson for the VHP, said, “Our national general secretary, Milind Parande, has made it clear that we stand firm on our position—we do not want any remnants of invaders in our country. If statues of King George V and Lord Curzon were removed after independence, why should the tomb of a Mughal invader remain? I am not aware of Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s remarks, but the VHP maintains its stance.”