An extraordinary situation has developed in the central-Indian city of Nagpur, following a violent demonstration seeking the razing of the tomb of Aurangazeb, one of the last among the Mughal emperors, in Khuldabad in Maharashtra’s erstwhile Aurangabad district. Curfew has been clamped after several persons from rival communities and police personnel were injured in the sudden eruption of violence on Monday. In all fairness, the BJP-led NDA government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm had ensured peace in the communally volatile Hindi belt so far, with some exceptions like the Delhi riots over National Citizenship Registry etc. Nagpur, the winter capital of Maharashtra, too is part of the Hindi belt and the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Tempers have remained under control there even when states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar witnessed communal conflagrations in the past. Nagpur generally did not have a history of violence. What caused the disruption to peace there now has to do with a movie, Chaava, which was released a month ago. It re-created history, with focus on Sambhaji, son of Maratha warrior king Shivaji Maharaj, who had been involved in a war with Aurangazeb and was caught and tortured to death. Apparently, the movie raised tempers among sections of the Hindu nationalists, as claimed by Chief Minister Devinder Fadnavis.
The immediate requirement is restoration of peace in Nagpur and strong steps by the law and order machinery in Maharashtra and elsewhere to keep things under control. Fadnavis, on his part, should have acted in a more responsible manner, as the intelligence establishment had an inkling of the tension building up in Maharashtra over the release of the controversial movie. What should not be overlooked is also the direct link that the CM has with the RSS in Nagpur, which should have helped him gauge the rising communal temperature there. Notably, the Ram Temple movement gained traction from a Doordarshan serial, Ramayana, and this led to the mass frenzy and demolition of the Babri Masjid in the early 1990s, resulting in communal riots and large-scale deaths across the northern and western regions. There were lessons to learn from this.
The present scenario should not be allowed to get out of hand. Attempts at disturbing communal harmony must be nipped in the bud. It is important that the police and the intelligence establishment remain fully alert. While the Modi-led NDA government has a rightful claim to have ensured peace and stability essential for national well-being and progress, Manipur remains a blemish on the establishment’s image. Home Minister Amit Shah too has a reputation overall for maintenance of law and order in other parts of the country, including the once-volatile Kashmir Valley in recent years. But constant alert on the law and order front is imperative in a country as ethnically and religiously diverse as India is.
