Why is India’s ruling BJP and PM Narendra Modi obsessed with 17th-century Muslim ruler Aurangzeb?
- Some Hindu groups feel Muslim rulers like Aurangzeb from the Mughal empire destroyed Hindu temples to build mosques, and want to right the ‘wrongs’ of the past
- Analysts believe demonising Muslims could be part of a BJP election strategy to mobilise the Hindu vote before December’s polls in Gujarat state
His name has been hung in a public lavatory in the Indian capital. In Agra, the city’s mayor wants his name removed from all public places. The man is Aurangzeb and he ruled India as one of its Mughal emperors in the 17th century.
For the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party or (BJP) and the Hindus who support it, this figure from three centuries ago is seen as a cruel part of the country’s history, observers say.
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A campaign is under way by the BJP and the extremist groups affiliated with it to right the “wrongs” of history by extracting revenge for what they perceive as “humiliation” by punishing Muslims today.
Aurangzeb in particular has always been hated by hardline Hindu nationalists because he is known to have destroyed many Hindu temples during his reign and built mosques on the ruins. Some of his policies discriminated against Hindus.
He was described as an Islamic zealot, unlike most other Mughals.