‘Want the same thing’: Fadnavis backs call for removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb
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New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis joined the chorus calling for the removal of the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb from Khulabad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
Devendra Fadnavis voiced his opinion days after BJP leader Navneet Rana demanded the demotion of the emperor’s grave set up in 1707.
In the midst of the spiraling controversy, the Chief Minister said: ‘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 some years back.’
Earlier Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi stirred up a controversy after he praised Aurangzeb calling the emperor a ‘good administrator’, adding that India under his rule thrived.
Abu Azmi was suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly through the budget session in response to his statements including: ‘Aurangzeb built many temples. I do not consider Aurangzeb a cruel administrator’.
He added: ‘Also, the battle between Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Aurangzeb was a battle for state administration. That battle was not about Hindus and Muslims anywhere’.
Abu Azmi’s remarks were in response to the movie 'Chhaava' that depicted the torture of Sambhaji Maharaj.
Though he withdrew the statements later, police cases were filed against him with Chief Minister Fadnavis saying that Abu Azmi should be ‘100 per cent put in jail’.
Subsequently, the BJP's Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, who is a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, called for razing the tomb saying ‘What is the need... send a JCB machine and raze his grave... he was a thief and lootera (robber)’.
Udayanraje Bhosale sought for ‘strict action’ against those who make ‘wrong statements’ about ‘Shahaji Chhatrapati Maharaj, Rajmata Jijau Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’.
Adding to the row, BJP leader Navneet Rana said on March 4 ‘I want to request Maharashtra government that the way Aurangabad's name was changed and kept after our God Sambhaji Maharaj, Aurangzeb's grave should also be demolished.’
Aurangzeb died at the age of 87 in 1707, leaving behind a will expressing his wish to be buried in Khuldabad, near his guru Sufi saint Syed Zainuddin’s grave.
He was buried Khuldabad, 25 kilometers from Aurangabad.
His instructions for burial included an open-air tomb, around which the Nizam of Hyderabad later installed a marble grill at the request of then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon.
