New Delhi: Opposition MPs on Tuesday blamed the BJP-led Maharashtra government for the Nagpur violence, while Union minister Ramdas Athawale said the movie ‘Chhaava’ stoked people’s sentiments against 17th century Mughal king Aurangzeb.
Curfew has been imposed in several areas of Nagpur city after a protest against Aurangzeb’s tomb on Monday triggered violence during which several houses and vehicles were vandalised.
“Demands are being raised about Aurangzeb’s grave, a movement is going on. The grave has been there for 500 years, but after watching the Chhaava movie, the way he murdered Sambhaji Maharaj, that has made people angry,” Athawale told reporters outside Parliament.
“That is why protests are happening. We appeal to the protesters that they should agitate peacefully. There should be no violence,” he added.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh said the violence in Nagpur was part of a planned conspiracy.
“BJP had been trying to spread hatred in Nagpur and the whole of Maharashtra for a long time. As long as the BJP is there, there cannot be peace in India. Ahead of Holi, they tried to disrupt peace in Uttar Pradesh, what is the reason behind it? It is so that people can’t talk about the crashing share market, economic disparity is at its highest in hundred years, there is unemployment,” he said.
“Ye chilla rahe hai Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb, janta kah rahi hai kat gayi jeb…(They are shouting Aurangzeb, people are saying their pockets are being picked),” he said.
Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said it was unfortunate that in 21st-century India, people are agitating over the history of the 17th and 18th centuries.
“It is most unfortunate this kind of violence has broken, the state and Union government must take steps to quell it. I am baffled why this violence happened,” he told the media outside Parliament.
Azad Samaj Party MP Chandra Shekhar said the government was trying to distract attention from issues of unemployment and poverty.
“Riots, whether in Nagpur, Manipur, or Uttar Pradesh, are not good. There should be strict action against those who are behind the violence, whether they are BJP leaders or Congress leaders…” Chandra Shekhar said.
“Centre should demand an explanation from the state government, which is fuelling this communal polarisation. The world is talking about going to space, we want to go two feet under the ground, how is that going to help us become a developed country? Everyone knows which party’s agenda this is…” he told the media outside Parliament.
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose said the confrontation in Nagpur exposed the Centre’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ slogan as hollow.
“At a time when the focus should be on employment, farmer suicide, rising prices, what is BJP doing? It is creating yet another weapon of mass distraction,” she said.
P Sandosh Kumar of CPI deplored the violence and sought accountability from the Maharashtra government. “It is an attempt to dig into history and divide society.” More than 50 people have been taken into custody and five FIRs registered in connection with the violence in Nagpur city, Police Commissioner Ravinder Singal said on Tuesday.
Stones were hurled at police amid rumours that the holy book of a community was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing body for the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, officials earlier said.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
