Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 14: In a sharp attack on the BJP regime in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday called the BJP rule in the state worse than that of the period when Moghul emperor Aurangzeb ruled and claimed that farmers were dying because of the saffron party.
He claimed that farmers, unemployed people and women are committing suicides in the State. “It’s been 400 years since Aurangzeb was buried. Forget him. Are farmers in Maharashtra committing suicide due to Aurangzeb? They are doing it because of you,” Mr Raut said referring to the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“The government says the Mughal ruler committed atrocities, but then what is the present government doing?” he asked. BJP leads the ruling Mahayuti coalition, also comprising the Shiv Sena and NCP, in the State. “Farmers are committing suicide. BJP’s tenure is worse than that of Aurangzeb,” Mr Raut said.
He was responding to a question on Mr Fadnavis’s remarks that “everyone” feels Mughal ruler Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should be removed. But it has to be done under legal purview as the previous Congress regime put the site under the Archaeological Survey of India’s protection, Mr Fadnavis had said.
Mr Raut’s comparing the incumbent government with Aurangzeb comes in the wake of another controversy centring round the Mughal ruler on which a Samajwadi Party member of the state Assembly was suspended for the remaining period of the budget session on his remark that Aurangzeb was not as crude a ruler as he was being made out by some historians.
Several BJP leaders took strong objections to his remark and a police complaint was filed against him. The BJP and the Shiv Sena faction of the deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde even called Mr Azmi anti-national pointing out that the Moghul emperor had “tortured to death” Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
The BJP’s Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had even sought the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. Aurangzeb is remembered in Maharashtra for his battles with the Marathas, who resisted his expansionist ambitions. Shivaji Maharaj’s son, Sambhaji, was captured, tortured, and executed on his orders.
Mr Bhosale also had demanded stringent law against persons who make disrespectful remarks about Maratha icons, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “Anyone making wrong statements against Shahaji Chhatrapati Maharaj, Rajmata Jijau, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj should be punished,” said Mr Bhosale, adding that they are deities who need to be respected.
Mr Azmi, however, had denied the allegations against him and criticised he being called a terrorist for praising Aurangzeb. “I am being accused without reason. They suspended me for the entire session. People are calling me a terrorist, but what terror have I spread? This is baseless. Regardless of the government’s actions, I will continue my work”.
The controversy erupted after Mr Azmi made remarks about Aurangzeb within the premises of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly last week. His statements sparked widespread criticism across party lines, leading the Mumbai Police to register a case under Sections 299, 302, 356(1), and 356(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On Tuesday, the Mumbai Sessions Court had granted Azmi anticipatory bail on a solvent surety bond of ₹20,000, instructing him not to tamper with evidence. He was directed to appear at the Marine Drive police station for three days to mark his presence.