The Indian crowned ‘Chhaava’, a Bollywood delight, and a few important declarations by a number of leaders, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, have definitely once again thrown Aurangzeb into the limelight, three hundred years after his death in 1707.
Sambhaji: the son of the great Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj rose in praise and glory from his father’s rule to fall into the clutches of Aurangzeb’s commander, who had him captured at Sangamneshwar in 1689. Chhatrapati Sambhaji was later put to death on the Mughal emperor’s orders in the same year.
Historians debate whether Aurangzeb were a religious fanatic or whether he employed religion as a means of consolidating his power. But all these were later events when he was remembered particularly in Maharashtra as being more of a historical antagonist than an actual character in the Mughal Empire owing to his repeated skirmishes against the Marathas, all part of a united endeavor to extend their hold on the Deccan.
The release of ‘Chhaava’ has revived the passions after the incendiary remarks of Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi who said that Aurangzeb “was not a cruel ruler” and that he had also got Hindu temples constructed.
Speaking outside the Maharashtra Assembly earlier, Abu Azmi said, “Aurangzeb got several temples built. In Varanasi, he saved a Hindu girl from a priest who had an evil eye on her. He had the priest trampled by elephants.”
“I don’t consider it Aurangzeb as a cruel ruler; during that era, power struggles were political, not religious. Aurangzeb’s army had many Hindus, just like Chhatrapati Shivaji’s army had several Muslims,” he added.
Mr Azmi was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for the remainder of the ongoing Budget session and was forced to retract his remarks.
“Whatever I have said about Aurangzeb is something that has been stated by historians and writers. I have not made any derogatory remarks against Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Maharaj, or any national icons. Still, if anyone is hurt by my remarks, then I take back my statements and comments,” he said.
He also paid tributes to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj during Tuesday’s death ceremony, identifying him as a “valiant warrior.”
The damage control, however, came too late with Maharashtra Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil saying that Mr Azmi’s statement had hurt the dignity of the House and even some opposition leaders, including Ambadas Danve of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), asking why the Samajwadi Party MLA from Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar had not been arrested. At least one case was also framed against him.
Aligning with the BJP, that has often eulogized Aurangzeb and the way the Hindus have been treated under his rule, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Mr Azmi will “100 percent” be thrown to jail. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, another head of the Shiv Sena, also transferred the outrage on Mr Azmi’s comments.
Aurangzeb’s Tomb Row
BJP’s Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale-the great-great-grandson of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj-has recently demanded that Aurangzeb’s tomb be razed from Khulabad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, which was renamed in 2022 from Aurangabad (after Aurangzeb).
“What is the need… send a JCB machine and raze his grave… he was a thief and lootera (robber)… Those who visit Aurangzeb’s tomb and pay homage may be his future. They should take that tomb to their own homes, but the glorification of Aurangzeb will not be tolerated anymore,” Mr Bhosale had said.
On Saturday, Mr Fadnavis was asked about Mr Bhosale’s demand and he has favored the action of removal tomb, but after the procedure of law, for the reason that the site has been protected with ASI by the Congress-led regime.
“We all also want the same thing, but you need to do it within the framework of the law, because it is a protected site. The site was put under ASI’s protection during the Congress regime a few years ago,” the Maharashtra Chief Minister said.
A Staunch Emotion?
Although this resistance to Aurangzeb extends much more back up the history, even considering activists and social reformers like Jyotiba Phule or freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.
In fact, one of the constant themes in the speeches of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray was his diatribe against Aurangzeb and his lasting influence on Hindus: he continued it through his son and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Even after Akhilesh Yadav backed Abu Azmi, Uddhav Thackeray, who is an ally of the Samajwadi Party chief in the INDIA alliance, supported the leader’s suspension and said that all of Maharashtra has raised an objection against him.
Controversy around Aurangzeb raised a volley in 2021- when Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Varanasi had been “invaded by Ottoman emperors” in the same vain as Aurangzeb-and also 2022, when AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi visited the Mughal emperor’s tomb and again in 2023, when then deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis used the words “Aurangzeb ki ‘aulaad’ (progeny)” after some people displayed the former king’s photos and used them as online status messages.
Aurangzeb occupied the debating scene just prior to the Assembly elections in Maharashtra last year when the BJP accused its erstwhile ally Uddhav Thackeray of forsaking the Chhatrapati legacy and carrying the ‘palki’ (palanquin) of Aurangzeb. Home Minister had described Mr Thackeray as the leader of the “Aurangzeb Fan Club”.
Speaking in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, PM Modi had said Congress and its allies abuse Veer Savarkar and stay mum about Bal Thackeray. In an attack on the Opposition side, he asked whether people would cast votes for those who followed Sambhaji or those propagating Aurangzeb’s ideas.
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