New Delhi: Five civilians and 33 police personnel were injured in the communal violence that broke out in Nagpur Monday.
It all started after Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) members gathered at Chitnis Park Chowk in the Mahal area, demanding the demolition of the 17th-century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Khuldabad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The protesters burnt a chadar carrying inscriptions of aayats from the Qur’an, leading to the clashes.
This came on the heels of the ruling Mahayuti leaders making inflammatory comments on Aurangzeb in the Maharashtra assembly, raising the question of why the last consequential Mughal Emperor remains the most talked about today.
Aurangzeb was defeated by the Marathas, who mounted continuous attacks on his army men in different places, weakening him militarily and economically until he conceded defeat and died a lonely death. The defeat also sounded the death knell for the Mughal Empire and hastened its demise.
However, despite his failures, Aurangzeb continues to divide Indian society. One reason for this is that he destroyed the uneasy truce between the Mughals and their Hindu-majority subjects by reintroducing the jizya (poll tax) after assuming power. Moreover, he was a puritanical man, known for waging wars and acts of cruelty—but it was the 17th century, a time when such rulers were not uncommon. Yet, the politics around him persists, whereas other Mughal Emperors, who were far more benevolent, are left out of it.
In Episode 1623 of #CutTheClutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta discusses the super-hit Chhaava, Aurangzeb’s polarising legacy, and Maharashtra politics in the backdrop of the Nagpur clashes, in a conversation with political editor D.K. Singh.