Author: Yashraj Sharma
Published on: 19/03/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Datta Shirke has not left his home for the past two days. He fears being arrested by police, who he says are detaining innocent Muslims. The police have imposed a curfew and more than 50 people have been arrested in raids. Maharashtra’s chief minister suggests a recent Bollywood film portraying Aurangzeb as a villain might have played a role in inflaming Hindu sentiments. The film, Chhaava, fictionalises the battles between the Mughal ruler and the Marathas. Aurangzeb inherited a strong empire, where he ascended after imprisoning his father and having his elder brother killed. But the power-hungry emperor was also unmatched on the battlefield in his time and excellent at building alliances, author Audrey Truschke says. He imposed tough Islamic laws and had a discriminatory tax that Hindu residents needed to pay in return for protection. In 2024, four people were arrested for raising posters of Aurangzeb in a procession. In June 2023, an Instagram post on the ruler landed a 14-year-old Muslim boy in jail. The Modi government changed middle school and high school history textbooks. Aurangzeb’s tomb is safeguarded as a Monument of National Importance by the Archaeological Survey of India under a 1958 law. As tensions continue to simmer in Nagpur, residents and local activists fear more violence might be around the corner. For Truschke, the Hindu majoritarian obsession with history is about that movement’s hatred for Muslims.
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