- Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Police arrested 15 people during combing operations. A DCP and two policemen sustained injuries during the combing operations
By: India Weekly
VIOLENCE erupted in central Nagpur on Monday with stones hurled at police amid rumours of the burning of a holy book during an agitation demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, leaving six people and three policemen injured, officials said.
Police arrested 15 people during combing operations in various localities in Mahal area.
Earlier, police fired tear gas shells and resorted to cane-charge to disperse the mob in Mahal, which houses RSS headquarters.
Violence also reportedly spread to Kotwali and Ganeshpeth in the late afternoon, officials said.
DCP Niketan Kadam was seriously injured during a combing operation, while two other cops also sustained injuries.
Officials said the Chitnish Park to Shukrawari Talao road belt was most affected by violence as per the preliminary information, where some four-wheelers were set afire by rioters.
Stones were also thrown at the homes of residents.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal had earlier called for the demolition of the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb at Khuldabad near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (erstwhile Aurangabad).
Ahead of the Shivaji Jayanti celebrated on Monday (17), the police had beefed up the security around the tomb complex to prevent any untoward incidents.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and union minister Nitin Gadkari, who hails from Nagpur, have appealed for peace and harmony in the wake of the violence.
According to police, the trouble began late afternoon shortly after Bajrang Dal members demonstrated near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Mahal area.
Police said rumours spread that the Quran was burnt during the agitation.
Videos of the Bajrang Dal demonstration quickly went viral on social media, leading to outrage among members of the Muslim community.
A complaint was lodged at Ganeshpeth police station in the evening alleging the burning of the holy book.
Following the complaint, a large number of Muslim community members started gathering in various parts of Mahal area, police said.
Sensing trouble, police intensified patrolling and summoned additional security forces to maintain law and order.
An official said stones were thrown at police personnel in Chitnis Park area, following which police fired tear gas shells.
He said there are reports of violence in other areas as well.
Bajrang Dal office-bearers, however, refuted the allegations and claimed that they had only burned an effigy of Aurangzeb as part of their demonstration.
Police conducted a combing operation and the situation continues to be tense.
Fadnavis has called for calm and asked people not to believe rumours.
“Police are managing the situation following stone pelting and tense situation in the Mahal area,” the chief minister said in a statement.
Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio, also said he is in constant contact with the police and asked them to cooperate with the people.
Gadkari echoed Fadnavis and appealed to people to cooperate with the administration.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray alleged an “unprecedented breakdown” of the law and order situation in the state.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also targeted the Devendra Fadnavis-led government over the violence in Nagpur.
In a post on social media platform X she said, “Instigating violence, creating instability in the state, keeping the citizens busy over the past history while getting away with tough questions on the state’s financial doom, increased debt burden, growing joblessness and farmer suicides. Maharashtra is being strategically led towards making the state unattractive for investment, it is to help the neighbouring state to take advantage.”
“Under Shinde all businesses were driven to Gujarat at the expense of the state and under the current CM making state unviable for investment forcing businesses to move out. Shameless,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal alleged the violence was the failure of the state home department, adding that state ministers were “deliberately making provocative speeches” over the last few days.
Communal rhetoric
Earlier, Nitesh Rane, a minister in Fadnavis cabinet, had suggested a “Babri Masjid-type” action, calling on Hindutva outfits to do their duty while the government fulfills its responsibilities.
“The government will do its part while Hindutva outfits must do theirs. When Babri Masjid was being demolished, we did not sit and talk to each other. Our karsevaks did what was appropriate,” Rane said in Pune while addressing a gathering at Shivaji Maharaj’s birthplace, Shivneri fort, in Pune district on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
BJP leader Sunil Deodhar demanded that arrangements be made to allow people to spit on the tomb if it cannot be removed.
“The Devendra Fadnavis government stands for law and order. Nobody should be allowed to break the law in Maharashtra. I support the demand for the removal of Aurangzeb’s grave,” the former BJP national secretary told Marathi news channel ABP Majha.
He said if the grave cannot be removed, arrangements should be made so that people can visit the site and spit on the tomb, which will make Maharashtra happy.
Trying to cool the communal temperature, Fadnavis on Monday (17) said in Thane that the government is obligated to protect Aurangzeb’s tomb, which is a protected site, but it won’t allow attempts to glorify his legacy.
“It is unfortunate that the government has to take responsibility for the protection of Aurangzeb’s grave, despite his history of persecution. However, I assure you, if any attempt is made to glorify his legacy through ‘mahima mandan’, it will not succeed,” the chief minister said after inaugurating a temple dedicated to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Thane district on his birth anniversary.
He said only the temple of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj deserves “mahima mandan” (glorification) and not the tomb of Aurangzeb.(PTI)
