Decode Politics: How Aurangzeb became a lightning rod in Maharashtra politics | Political Pulse News

This is not the first time that Aurangzeb has been in the middle of a raging debate in Maharashtra politics.

What is Aurangzeb’s link to Maharashtra?

Muhi al-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Aurangzeb, ruled over the Indian subcontinent for over 49 years and spent the last 25 years of his life in areas that now constitute the state of Maharashtra during his failed and expensive foray into the Deccan.

Aurangzeb’s reign is particularly remembered in Maharashtra for the fierce battles between his forces and the Marathas who essentially stopped the Mughal emperor’s advance. This is a defining moment in the state’s history and, in a place where Maratha pride runs deep, the Mughal emperor is seen as a historical antagonist.

The capture of Shivaji’s son Sambhaji Maharaj by Mughals in 1689 and the subsequent execution of Sambhaji, who was tortured before his death, has cemented Aurangzeb as a bitter enemy in the collective memory of Marathas. The recent release of the movie Chhava and its graphic description of Sambhaji’s death has also brought into focus Aurangzeb’s reputation as a symbol of oppression, religious intolerance, and cruelty.

What has been Aurangzeb’s impact on Maharashtra’s polity?

From Jyotiba Phule who criticised Aurangzeb in his ballad written in praise of Shivaji to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who referred to him as “a veritable demon in human form, (who) vowed to root out the whole Hindu world” in his book The Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, Aurangzeb has been a much reviled figure.

While his injustices have been cited by Hindu right-wing organisations since Independence when calling for a Hindu cultural renewal, the Mughal emperor did not find much resonance in Maharashtra politics in the 1960s and 1970s.

While the state’s landscape is filled with remnants of forts and monuments that mark the Maratha-Mughal rivalry, the Shiv Sena was the first to use this imagery for political purposes. As it expanded its footprint outside Mumbai, the Sena set its sights on Aurangabad, a city named after Aurangzeb and with a substantial Muslim population.

It was Bal Thackeray who first invoked the battles between the Marathas and Mughals, equating Muslims with Aurangzeb. The resultant communal surge helped the Sena gain power in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

“For 300 years, the ghost of Aurangzeb has haunted this country … After 300 years, history has repeated itself, and the ‘Mard Marathas’ have buried Aurangzeb in the same soil of Aurangabad,” Bal Thackeray wrote in Marmik in 1988 after his party’s victory in the Aurangabad civic polls.

It was the Sena that was the first to call for renaming the city, announcing that it would be named Sambhajinagar. In 1995, the AMC, helmed by the Sena, passed a resolution to rename the city but the decision was never implemented due to legal challenges. Aurangzeb continued to be an important figure in the Sena’s lexicon, which preferred to call him “Aurangya”.

With the Sena becoming far more circumspect in its choice of words after joining hands with the Congress and the NCP, the BJP has emerged as the chief critic of Aurangzeb in Maharashtra in the past few years.

In 2022, as his government fell, one of the last decisions Uddhav Thackeray took as CM was announcing the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar. The BJP-backed Eknath Shinde government, that replaced the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime, went a step further by scrapping the previous decision and renaming the city with an added suffix as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

What are some of the controversies over Aurangzeb?

While Chhava has put fresh spotlight on Aurangzeb, there have been simmering tensions associated with him for the last couple of years. In May 2022, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi visited Aurangzeb’s tomb in Khuldabad, sparking a controversy.

In 2023, several Muslim youths, including minors, were arrested for uploading photographs and videos of the Mughal emperor, accompanied by comparisons between him and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. This row erupted around June 2, when the 350th anniversary of the coronation of the Maratha leader was celebrated.

Then Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in 2023 criticised citizens whom he called “Aurangzeb ki aulad (Aurangzeb’s descendants)” following communal tension and violence in Kolhapur sparked by allegedly provocative social media posts. The ruling alliance alleged a deliberate attempt to use the images of Aurangzeb to create disturbances in the state. Fadnavis said riot-like situations had developed because “some people from a particular community glorify Aurangzeb”.

Many Muslim politicians have appealed to the community to distance themselves from Aurangzeb, calling him an adversary of Indian Muslims. “Aurangzeb’s legacy cannot be claimed by Hindustani Muslims. I urge the community to focus on unity and a shared vision for progress,” NCP MLA Hassan Mushrif said in 2023.

The only Maharashtra politician who has been unafraid of associating himself with Aurangzeb is Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president Prakash Ambedkar, who in 2023 offered floral tributes at the Mughal ruler’s grave. “What’s wrong in visiting Aurangzeb’s tomb? He was a Mughal emperor who ruled here for 50 years. Can we wipe out history?” Ambedkar said.

Has there been a shift?

While there has always been hostility against Aurangzeb in Maharashtra, the antagonism has intensified in the last few years, shaped by the currents of national politics. The purported impact of Chhava, with videos on social media showing people breaking down while watching the movie, somewhat illustrates this. It was in this context that Azmi made the comments about “wrong history being shown in Chhava”. He added, “Aurangzeb built several temples… I do not think he was a cruel administrator.”

Azmi’s comments are seen by many as a needless controversy that, in the end, helped the Mahayuti government deflect some of the heat over the resignation of minister Dhananjay Munde over his associate’s arrest in a murder case.
Now there are demands to also raze Aurangzeb’s grave, located in Khuldabad, 24 km northwest of Aurangabad. His open-air grave is surrounded by a net railing of perforated marble, the sole ornamentation, and nearby there is a small sweet basil plant.

Despite their antagonism towards him, the Marathas incidentally allowed the tomb to exist. However, of late, there have been increasing calls from politicians for its demolition. BJP’s Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, on Friday called for the tomb to be razed. Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil and other BJP leaders have also said the same.