
Aurangzeb tomb protest
Listen to article
Hindutva goons in India have a new target these days, as they have begun a violent campaign to try and get the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb "removed" and replaced with a memorial for Hindu Maratha rulers of the region. The recent violence in Nagpur has so far seen extremists — who were inspired by, if not directly affiliated with, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) extremist group — riot and attack the police to demand the removal of the tomb, which is over 400km away from Nagpur.
The trigger point for the protest was reportedly a recent Bollywood movie about Sambhaji — a Maratha ruler who fought and got defeated by Aurangzeb, who then ordered him to be tortured and killed. The movie includes a graphic depiction of him being tortured. However, it also ignores - or rewrites — the fact that the real Sambhaji was betrayed by upper-caste Hindus who were bribed by Aurangzeb, because this would go against the myth portraying them as noble religious warriors, rather than unscrupulous politicians.
Unfortunately, like most forms of extremist ideologies, logic is the greatest enemy of Hindutva. It is also worth noting that the VHP makes Modi's strain of Hindutva seem almost inclusive — VHP leaders have said they were the real masterminds of the 2002 Gujarat riots, and Modi was simply their pawn.
The group is one of the most virulent far-right extremist organisations in India and, thus, the source of some of the most outlandish historical conspiracy theories. The tomb removal demand is a reflection of this. Unlike most recent attempts to raze mosques and replace them with temples, Aurangzeb's tomb has little religious value for Muslims, and the Hindu extremists are not demanding a temple to replace it, or claiming that a temple once stood in its place.
The objective is a straight-up attempt at historical erasure — razing and replacing the tomb of the last great Mughal emperor with a monument to a Hindu Maratha ruler, never mind that Aurangzeb's tomb happens to be located on the shrine of a Muslim saint, which would be an odd location to memorialise a Hindu king.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business Recorder
Restive Indian state orders curfew after fresh violence
IMPHAL, INDIA: An Indian state riven by ethnic tensions imposed an internet shutdown and curfew after protesters clashed with security forces over the arrest of some members of a radical group, police said Sunday. Manipur in India's northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than two years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community that have killed more than 250 people. The latest violence was triggered Saturday after reports of the arrest of five members, including a commander, of Arambai Tenggol, a radical Meitei group. Incensed mobs demanding their release stormed a police post, set fire to a bus and blocked roads in parts of the state capital Imphal. Manipur police announced a curfew in five districts, including Imphal West and Bishnupur, due to the 'developing law and order situation'. 'Prohibitory orders have been issued by District Magistrates. Citizens are requested to cooperate with the orders,' the police said in a statement. Militia fighters surrender looted weapons in restive Indian state Arambai Tenggol, which is alleged to have orchestrated the violence against the Kuki community, has also announced a 10-day shutdown in the valley districts. The state's home ministry has ordered all internet and mobile data services in volatile districts to be shut off for five days in order to bring the latest unrest under control. Internet services were shut down for months in Manipur during the initial outbreak of violence in 2023, which displaced around 60,000 people from their homes according to government figures. Thousands of the state's residents are still unable to return home owing to ongoing tensions. Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs. Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.


Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
Modi opens Chenab bridge
This photograph taken and released by the Indian Press Information Bureau (PIB) on 6 June 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding national flag during the inauguration of the Chenab Rail Bridge in Reasi, Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Photo AFP Listen to article Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to the Indian-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Friday since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan, opening a strategic railway line to the contested region he called "the crown jewel of India". "Pakistan will never forget... its shameful loss," the Hindu nationalist premier told crowds a month since India launched strikes on its neighbour after an attack on tourists in Kashmir. "Friends, today's event is a grand festival of India's unity and firm resolve," Modi said after striding across the soaring bridge to formally launch it for rail traffic. "This is a symbol and celebration of rising India," he said of the Chenab Bridge which connects two mountains. New Delhi calls the Chenab span the "world's highest railway arch bridge", sitting 359 metres (1,117 feet) above a river. While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China. The new route will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air. Around 150 people protested against the project on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad in Azad jammu and Kashmir. "We want to tell India that building bridges and laying roads in the name of development will not make the people of Kashmir give up their demand for freedom," said Azir Ahmad Ghazali, who organised the rally attended by Kashmiris who fled unrest on the Indian side in the 1990s. "In clear and unequivocal terms, we want to say to the Indian government that the people of Kashmir have never accepted India's forced rule." Modi also announced further government financial support for families whose relatives were killed, or whose homes were damaged, during the brief conflict --- mainly in shelling along the Line of Control. "Their troubles are our troubles," Modi said.


Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
US can force India into 'dialogue with Pakistan'
Listen to article Head of a high-level parliamentary delegation Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said US President Donald Trump should encourage India to engage in a "comprehensive dialogue" with Pakistan. The delegation is visiting Washington DC to present Islamabad's position following a recent military standoff with New Delhi. Weeks after their worst military confrontation in decades, India and Pakistan have dispatched top lawmakers to press their cases in the United States, where President Donald Trump has shown eagerness for diplomacy between them. After crisscrossing the world, the delegations descended this week at the same time on Washington, which played a key mediatory role in a ceasefire after four days of fighting between the nuclear-armed adversaries in May. In strikingly similar strategies, the rival delegations are both led by veteran politicians who have been critical of their countries' governments and are known for their ease in speaking to Western audiences. Pakistan has embraced an active role for the Trump administration while India, which has close relations with Washington, has been more circumspect and has long refused outside mediation on the Kashmir dispute. "Just like the United States and President Trump played a role in encouraging us to achieve this ceasefire, I believe they should play their part in encouraging both sides to engage in a comprehensive dialogue," said former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose Pakistan People's Party says it belongs neither to the governing coalition nor opposition. "I don't quite understand the Indian government's hesitance," Bilawal told AFP. "I'm the first to criticise the United States for so many reasons, but where they do the right thing, where they do the difficult task of actually achieving a ceasefire, they deserve appreciation." Bilawal, recalling how his mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a terror attack, said Pakistan was ready to discuss terrorism with India but that Kashmir as a "root cause" also needed to be on the table. He said that India was establishing a dangerous new precedent in South Asia where whenever there is a terrorist attack in any country, "you go straight to war". "I think that the fate of 1.7 billion people and our two great nations should not left in the hands of these nameless, faceless, non-state actors and this new normal that India is trying to impose on the region," he said. The two delegations have no plans to meet in Washington. NEW NORMAL Trump has repeatedly credited his administration with averting nuclear war and said the United States had negotiated an agreement to hold talks between the two sides at a neutral site, an assertion that met India's silence. India's delegation is led by one of its most prominent opposition politicians, Shashi Tharoor, a former senior UN official and writer. He said he was putting the national interest first, despite disagreements domestically with Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tharoor said he heard "total support and solidarity for India" during his meetings with US lawmakers and a "complete understanding of India's right to defend itself against terrorism." Tharoor also noted that former Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto Zardari's father, had advocated peace with India but was in power during the siege of Mumbai on November 26, 2008. "If they can't control what they're doing to us, why bother to talk to them?" said Tharoor, who pointed to the outsized role of the military in Pakistan. A high-level Pakistani parliamentary delegation, led by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, the Pakistan Embassy in Washington said in Tweet on Friday. During the meeting, Bilawal appreciated the role played by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in facilitating the Pakistan-India ceasefire expressed the hope that it would create space for sustainable peace and stability in South Asia through dialogue. "Pakistan delegation held a productive meeting with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker," the embassy said on X. "The delegation shared its concern over India's unprovoked aggression, continued hostile rhetoric, and unlawful suspension of IWT [Indus Water Treaty]," it added. (With additional input from News Desk)