Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis’s outrageous utterance “Aurangzeb Ki Aulad (Children of Aurangzeb)” constituted a dog whistle to target Muslims in his state and treat them with downright contempt and indignity. He did so after some people in Kolhapur reportedly circulated Aurangzeb’s image in social media and the violent response of Hindutva groups to it resulted in communal clashes and tensions in that region, which had no history of communal discord.
Fadnavis’s undignified and objectionable remark, meant to intimidate Muslims, violated the oath he took owing allegiance to the constitution – which secures all citizens equality of status and opportunity regardless of their faith, and promotes fraternity and dignity.
Modi invoked Aurangzeb to promote majoritarianism
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the Kashi Viswanath corridor project on December 13, 2021, invoked Aurangzeb and contrasted the Mughal emperor with Chhatrapati Shivaji, unmistakably proving his intent to promote majoritarianism and pointing fingers at Indian Muslims.
He had said that when history witnessed the torture of Aurangzeb, who tried to kill culture with radicalism, a Shivaji arose and forcefully claimed that India was now stepping out of that influence and “inferiority complex”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, December 13, 2021. Photo: pmindia.gov.in
It fits into Modi’s formulation of “Barah sau saal ki gulami ki maansikta humen pareshan kar rahi hai (The slave mentality of 1,200 years is troubling us)”. He had said so while replying to the ‘Motion of Thanks’ to the President’s address to both Houses of Parliament, assembled together in June 2014, his first speech as Prime Minister.
That formulation alludes to the notion that the Mughal rulers perpetuated slavery and, therefore, there is a need to rewrite history by purging that particular phase and to convey to the younger generation that the Mughals were enemies and present-day Muslims, by a strange twist of that logic, continue to represent that “inimical ethos”.
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Intensification of Hindutva strategy even as it loses its appeal
Fadnavis’s remark “Aurangzeb Ki Aulad” is part of that pattern anchored in majoritarianism and has a clear intent to polarise society along religious lines. Such utterances by constitutional functionaries, to stoke communal divisions with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, are aimed at mobilising people on the basis of faith and seeking votes on the basis of a religious appeal.
Prime Minister Modi recited a religious slogan “Jai Bajrang Bali” while campaigning in Karnataka recently and asked people to vote for the BJP. He also appealed to the voters to recite the same slogan while casting their votes. It was in clear violation of the law and the Model Code of Conduct. And yet he did with impunity.
Fadnavis’s disgraceful remark “Aurangzeb Ki Aulad” should be located in the context of the Jan Akrosh Morchas of some Hindutva groups demanding laws against conspiracy theories like “love jihad”, “land jihad” and the decision taken by Eknath Shinde and Fadnavis government to monitor inter-faith marriages in Maharashtra. All such developments are integrally linked to pushing majoritarian and Hindutva agenda, even as Prafulla Ketkar’s editorial in the RSS mouthpiece Organiser, sharply observed, “Without strong leadership and effective delivery at the regional level, Prime Minister Modi’s charisma and Hindutva as an ideological glue would not be sufficient.”
Gandhi’s perspective on Aurangzeb
Twisting the history of the Mughal era and distorting it as a period of slavery to promote majoritarian agenda is contrary to the perspectives of that period expounded by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. The manner in which Gandhi understood Aurangzeb provides an illuminating lesson for the present generation which is subjected to highly fake and perverse interpretations of the Mughal period.
For instance in his article ‘Music of the Spinning Wheel’, published in Young India on July 21, 1920, Gandhi appealed to all sections of people, especially the rulers from royal families to spin and in that context asked them to follow the example of Aurangzeb who made caps for himself by weaving and, very importantly, said: “A greater emperor – Kabir – was himself a weaver and has immortalised the art in his poems.” It is indeed educative that Gandhi invoked both Aurangzeb and Kabir at the same time for awakening the consciousness of the princely classes to take to spinning, an important component of the struggle for independence anchored in non-violence.
Mahatma Gandhi receives a donation in a train compartment. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Unknown author, Public domain
Gandhi saw the pre-British period as a period people of all faiths coexisted without communal riots. While speaking at the plenary session of the Round Table Conference in London, on December 1, 1931, he said:
“Hindus, Mussalmans and Sikhs were not always at war during the pre-British era, and with the onset of British rule and the policy to divide people along religious identities, such conflicts became more frequent.”
He stated that both the Hindu and Muslim historians in their accounts of the pre-British era wrote about the peaceful coexistence of people of diverse religious persuasions during that period. Against this backdrop, Gandhi recalled Maulana Muhammad Ali, who claimed that he would prove “…through documents that British people have erred, that Aurangzeb was not so vile as he has been painted by the British historian; that the Mughal rule was not so bad as it has been shown to us in British history”.
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As the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence are ongoing and leaders representing the Government of India are talking ad nauseam about Amrit Kaal, we need to recall the pre-British period outlined by Gandhi to counter the distorted interpretation that our country suffered slavery for 1,200 years.
Out of such a deliberately flawed understanding of history, attempts are being made to divide people into Hindu-Muslim lines and further intensify that divide by calling people “Babar Ki Aulad” and “Aurangzeb Ki Aulad.
In this respect, Gandhi’s articulations of 1926 on the temple-mosque issue of Benaras are of added relevance so that communal amity, being constantly assaulted by the powers that be, is safeguarded and enriched.
In 1926, a correspondent wrote to Gandhi, “Witness the site at Kashi (or Benares) where had stood the temple of Vishwanath for long centuries, since even before Lord Buddha’s time – but where now stands dominating the ‘Holy City’ a mosque built out of the ruins of the desecrated old temple by orders of no less a man than the ‘Living Saint’ (Zinda Pir), the ‘Ascetic King’ (Sultan Auliya), the ‘Puritan Emperor’— Aurangzeb.” The correspondent then put a sharp question to Gandhi: “Do these facts mean nothing to you Mahatmaji?”
In his reply, published in Young India on November 4, 1926, Gandhiji wrote:
“These facts do mean a great deal to me. They show undoubtedly the man’s barbarity. But they chasten me. They warn me against becoming intolerant. And they make me tolerant even towards the intolerant.”
His resolve to become tolerant even towards the intolerant and, that too, on being informed about the alleged barbarity associated with the demolition of the Kashi temple and construction of a mosque there represents the spirit of reconciliation by completely eliminating any desire for revenge. What he said constituted a celebration of higher values rooted in non-violence and respect for the faith of others. It, in fact, upheld the wholesome idea of reconciliation, accommodation, and understanding, which remain the foundational pillars of the idea of India.
Such values remained central to the understanding of the Mughal era and the pre-British period in India. Now, when these values and foundations are getting endangered by the ruling BJP leaders by their despicable remarks we need to recall the vision of freedom struggle as expounded in the writings of Gandhi.
S.N. Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K R Narayanan.