Communal strife hits the 300-years old city after rumours of Quran burning during Hindutva protests demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb
Team Clarion
NAGPUR — The Maharashtra district of Nagpur was rocked by large-scale communal violence on Monday evening pitting Hindu and Muslim groups against each other. The violence resulted in injuries to at least a dozen people and several cases of arson.
Reports suggest that tempers frayed after social media posts suggested that some Hindutva groups, demanding the removal of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb’s tomb from Maharashtra’s Khuldabad area in Aurangabad, burnt an effigy of the Mughal emperor which had the Islamic Kalima embossed on it. Rumours spread thick and fast that about 200 members of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) burnt a copy of the Holy Quran along with that of Aurangzeb’s effigy.
As tension escalated between the two groups, stone pelting started. Several vehicles were set on fire and over a dozen people including some policemen got injured. The police fired tear gas shells and resorted to a lathi charge to disperse rioting mobs in Chitnis Park and Mahal even as violence spread to Kotwali and Ganeshpeth areas.
Following the violence, a curfew was imposed in parts of Nagpur city. Ravinder Singhal, Police Commissioner, Nagpur, imposed the restrictions on Monday night by invoking Section 163 (power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The police said the restrictions would remain in place until further notice.
Curfew has been imposed in areas under the jurisdiction of Kotwali, Ganeshpet, Tehsil, Lakadganj, Pachpavli, Shantinagar, Sakkardara, Nandanvan, Imamwada, Yashodharanagar, and Kapilnagar police stations. The order prohibits the movement of individuals outside their residences, except for medical emergencies.
More than 50 persons have been rounded up during the overnight combing operations. Several social media accounts — which have allegedly fuelled the trouble — are also being monitored.
Opposition leaders held the Devendra Fadnavis government accountable for the collapse of law and order in the state.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aditya Thackeray called the incident the collapse of state machinery in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s hometown. He posted on social media platform X, “The law and order of the state has collapsed like never before. Nagpur, the home city of the CM and Home Minister, is facing this.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera questioned the state government for not making enough arrangements to maintain law and order during the Hindutva protests.
“Riot broke out in the Mahal area of Nagpur, the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister. Nagpur is a 300-year-old city. In those 300 years of history, no riot has occurred in Nagpur. We should all ask why such a situation formed. BJP is in power at both the Centre and State. If VHP and Bajrang Dal organised a protest demanding the removal of the tomb of Aurangzeb, did the government make no arrangements to maintain law and order?” he asked.
Khera further said: “Congress party and all of us appeal to the people of Nagpur to maintain peace. A game is being played, and the 300-year-old history is being turned into an issue. Don’t fall victim to this game, maintain peace, as that is in our interest. A few political parties provoke people and think that their political interests lie in this. We have to avoid such politics. Peace is important for us.”
Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) said, “The Maharashtra state government is ruining the state for their political opportunism and leading it towards a violent implosion. This is being reported from Nagpur, the constituency of the Home Minister and Chief Minister.”
She further criticised the Maharashtra government, saying, “CM Devendra Fadnavis is pushing Maharashtra into underdevelopment, creating an environment where no one will want to invest in the state. Law and order have been shattered, and you are misleading and provoking the people. It is shameful that such violence took place. Nitin Gadkari himself stated that, to date, no such incident has ever occurred in Nagpur. The so-called ‘double-engine’ government they claim is actually a ‘double disaster’ government.”
