Vehicles Torched, Police Injured Amid Aurangzeb Tomb Protests

Several vehicles and bulldozers were torched, and many people including police personnel were injured following violent clashes between two communities in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Monday, 17 March.

While the police claimed that the clashes were triggered by “misinformation”, tensions were high in the city through the day following demonstrations led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) over Aurangzeb’s tomb.

According to sources, tensions prevailed in the Mahal area of the city following claims of a chadar with holy inscriptions being burnt during protests led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.

The demonstrations in Nagpur were among many held across the state on Monday to demand for the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, a demand being fanned by several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ruling alliance leaders for the past few days.

Following demonstrations by the VHP, Bajrang Dal, and other Hindutva groups earlier in the day, many from the Muslim community reached the spot to demand for arrest of those who allegedly burnt the chadar along with Aurangzeb’s pictures during the protests. They also held demonstrations outside the Ganesh Peth police station later.

The clashes erupted around 7:00 pm after a group of locals resorted to sloganeering and stone pelting, sources said. Following the clashes, the police resorted to lathi charge and also fired tear gas shells.

One police officer injured in the stone pelting has been identified as Niketan Kadam.