A curfew has been imposed in parts of a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra after some Hindu groups demanded the removal of the tomb of 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, a move that sparked violence on Monday night.
Read Also...:
Uttar Pradesh: Death penalty for three men in 1981 murders of 24 Dalits
03-20, 2025
'World's ugliest animal' is New Zealand's fish of the year
03-20, 2025
Ex-researcher sentenced to death for spying, China says
03-20, 2025
Afghan women students facing forced return after USAID cuts get temporary reprieve
03-20, 2025In the Mahal area of Nagpur city, some vehicles were set on fire and stones were thrown. Police said the situation is now under control and appealed to the public to remain calm.
Aurangzeb's tomb is located in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, about 500 kilometers from Nagpur, which was previously named Aurangabad after the emperor. In recent years, the tomb has become a political flashpoint as hardline Hindu groups have increasingly called for its removal.
Monday's violence erupted after two Hindu organizations – the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal – burned an effigy of the emperor and shouted slogans demanding the removal of his tomb. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state legislature that this sparked rumors about the desecration of some religious symbols, leading to violence that looked like a "planned attack."
Fadnavis said that a group of 250 Muslim men gathered after evening prayers and started shouting slogans. "When people started saying they were going to burn vehicles, the police used force." Nagpur Police Commissioner Ravinder Singal told ANI news agency that more than 50 people had been detained and 33 police officers were injured in the incident. Shops and businesses in the central Nagpur area remained closed, and security measures have been stepped up throughout the city.
Meanwhile, the opposition criticized the state government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying that "law and order in the state has collapsed." The trigger for this week's violence was a recent Bollywood film about Sambhaji, a Maratha ruler who clashed with Aurangzeb but was defeated, and its vivid depiction of Sambhaji's torture. Fadnavis told the state legislature on Tuesday that the film "ignited people's anger towards Aurangzeb."
The issue has been gaining attention in the state for days, with politicians from Hindu nationalist parties criticizing Aurangzeb and calling for the removal of his tomb. Protesters were also angered by comments made earlier this month by regional politician Abu Azmi, who said that Aurangzeb was not a "cruel administrator" and "built many temples." Azmi also said that during the emperor's reign, India's borders reached Afghanistan and present-day Myanmar, the country was known as the Golden Bird, and its GDP accounted for a quarter of the world's GDP. He later said in court that his remarks had been misunderstood, but he was suspended from the Maharashtra legislature and an investigation was launched against him.
In 2022, Aurangzeb's name became a trending topic on social media when a controversy erupted over a mosque built on the ruins of the Vishwanath Temple, a magnificent 17th-century Hindu shrine that was destroyed on Aurangzeb's orders. At the time, the court ordered an investigation to determine whether the mosque was built on the original Hindu temple. His tomb was closed to visitors after a regional politician questioned "the necessity of its existence" and called for its destruction. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke about "Aurangzeb's atrocities" and "his terror" at an event in Varanasi that year. Modi said: "He tried to change civilization with the sword. He tried to suppress culture with fanaticism."
Aurangzeb was the sixth emperor of the Mughal dynasty, ruling India for nearly five decades from 1658 to 1707. He is often described as a devout Muslim who lived an ascetic life, but was ruthless in expanding the empire, implementing strict Islamic law, and imposing discriminatory taxes. He has been accused of destroying Hindu temples, although some commentators have noted that he also built some.
