Why young Muslims in Maharashtra are drawn to the idea of Aurangzeb

On June 4, an urs procession was underway in the Fakirwada area of Ahmednagar. Young men danced as a Haryanvi song, Baap Toh Baap Rahega, played in the background. As the procession wound its way to a dargah, a few men held up framed images of the 17th-century Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

One of them was a 31-year-old law graduate from Ahmednagar. “Just like Shivaji Maharaj is an emperor for some, Aurangzeb is an emperor for others,” he told Scroll.

Once the video of the procession went viral, several Hindu outfits in Ahmednagar protested and demanded the police take action.

The Maharashtra police registered a case against the 31-year-old and three of his friends under Sections 298 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code, which relate to hurting religious feelings and promoting enmity between communities, among others. They were detained by the police for a day.

The law graduate, who says he is a member of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, does not regret holding up the image. “The Constitution gives us freedom to follow whoever we want,” he said. “We did not commit a crime by holding up Aurangzeb’s poster.”

He objected to Hindu organisations stopping people from talking about the Mughal ruler. “Aurangzeb brought prosperity to India too and that cannot be forgotten,” he said. “We wanted to make that point.”

Whether or not they are making a similar point, there have been several instances of Muslim men and teenage boys posting memes or videos on Aurangzeb on social media. In many cases, that has led to strident opposition from Hindutva organisations in Maharashtra, leading to cases being registered against the men.

Since March, at least 13 police cases have been registered in Maharashtra, where 22 Muslim men have been booked for posting a photo, video or content on social media related to Aurangzeb. Those accused are aged between 14 and 31 years of age. Of the 22, seven are minors.

Sometimes, the posts have led to communal violence. In Kolhapur, social media posts on Tipu Sultan by seven young men, mistaken as glorification of Aurangzeb, led to a riot in the city. In response, Maharashtra Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had threatened to take action against “Aurangzeb ke aulad” – the children of Aurangzeb – in the state.

In Maharashtra, Shivaji, the Maratha king who resisted Aurangzeb’s advance into the Deccan, is a figure lionised across castes and communities. But the Mughal ruler has been a contentious and divisive figure, largely ignored by the state’s Muslims. As a result, there is a sense of discomfort and alarm within the community, with several leaders and civil society organisations stepping in to counsel and warn youngsters against valorising the Mughal emperor.

But what is drawing young men like the law graduate to the idea of Aurangzeb?

Being online, being Muslim

Shifan Shaikh, an 18-year-old in Mumbai, spends eight hours every day on Instagram and has 430 followers.

Like any other teenager, the Instagram feed of the first-year commerce student is a mix of memes and comic reels. He likes to edit videos, create memes and post them as reels in the hope of gaining more followers. One of his recent posts got over 15,000 views.

“But sometimes we also get drawn into toxic arguments over politics and religion,” he said.

Shaikh recalls reading several anti-Muslim posts soon after the release of the film, The Kerala Story in May. “It affected me,” he said.

Shaikh has also seen several posts and handles that praise Aurangzeb as a powerful emperor. “For many, Aurangzeb represents power for Muslims and such posts become a fitting reply to anti-Muslim posts,” he said. He added, though, that he has not posted anything on Aurangzeb.

In several Instagram posts by handles such as @aurangzeb.alamgir.aurangabad and @aurangzeb_alamgir_official, Aurangzeb is hailed as sher (tiger), shahenshah (emperor), as someone who ruled over a vast empire, who made “India’s GDP” greater than Western countries – and, most commonly, as the “baap” or big daddy of kings.

Many other young Muslim men drew a connection between the surfeit of anti-Muslim posts on social media and the urge to share such Aurangzeb posts.

Tauheed Ansari, a 20-year-old in Mumbai, who is preparing to appear for engineering entrance examinations, said Hindutva posts on social media that denounce Islam are pushing several young Muslims to speak up even if they are not religious or even if they do not know much about Mughal history. “It is our identity under attack,” Ansari said.

He also said that the numerous Sakal Hindu Samaj rallies in Maharashtra, which call for social and economic boycott of Muslims, had left him disturbed.

For Muslims, Aurangzeb is a “well-respected emperor”, said Umair Alware, a 23-year-old law student in Mumbai University. “There is history to support it. He established a stable kingdom in India. Moreover, Aurangzeb was not against Hindus. His administration had the highest Hindu representation compared to his predecessors.” Aurangzeb’s discriminatory policies on Hindus make him a contentious figure of Indian history, though historians are divided over interpreting him as only an anti-Hindu ruler.

Alware said many educated Muslim friends in Mumbai have posted messages about Aurangzeb’s history on social media. “That does not mean they disrespect Hindus or their customs,” he said. “They are just putting forth symbols of resistance.”

The need for resistance, he explained, comes from the increased communal polarisation in India.

Alware referred to his own experience during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, when his classmates and childhood friends expressed their support for a National Register of Citizens on social media. Both initiatives were seen as targetting Muslims.

“There was a sense of betrayal,” Alware said.

On social media, he said, young Muslims are now developing a sense of resilience. “They are conscious of their identity,” he said. “There is resistance.”

‘He does not know much about Aurangzeb’

Both Ansari and Shaikh agreed that many young people re-post videos and memes such as the ones about Aurangzeb not for political reasons but to gain more followers or social media attention.

The families of teens booked for such posts, for example, claimed the youngsters were mostly following a social media trend or trying to get their posts noticed.

On June 9, for example, a 14-year-old from Ashti city in Beed district posted a story on Instagram that had pictures of Aurangzeb and Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan with the words “Baap toh baap rahega”, Big Daddy will remain Big Daddy, typed at the bottom.

His uncle, a Bharatiya Janata Party volunteer, said he was not trying to provoke anyone. “He does not even know much about Tipu Sultan or Aurangzeb,” he said.

After members of Hindu organisations called a bandh to protest the posts, the police registered a case against the teen. “We don’t see it as a crime, but we also have to respect the sentiments of a community,” said police inspector Hemant Kadam from Ashti police station.

On the same day, a 29-year-old sales manager in Cheeta camp, in Mumbai’s eastern region, was briefly detained by the Vashi police for posting using Aurangzeb’s photo on his WhatsApp status.

Since then, the man has not returned home. “He is embarrassed,” his sister said. On June 9, he had decided to share one of his friend’s WhatsApp status – a portrait of Aurangzeb, with “Jumma Mubarak” written underneath. “Since it was a Friday, he also posted the same display picture to wish others on Jumma,” the sister said.

A day later, she said, a co-worker at her brother’s mobile phone store saw the status and took a screenshot. He shared it with members of a Hindu outfit, who first called the sales manager to remove the photo, then stormed the store where he worked and later lodged a police complaint. A first information report was registered under Sections 153A and 298 of the Indian Penal Code for creating enmity between two religious groups and hurting religious sentiments.

Two constables visited his home and took away his passport. “We were not aware of anything until the constables turned up,” his 60-year-old father said. “My son has several Hindu friends. He has never insulted their religion.”

His sister added, “My brother does not follow the news and never realised that Aurangzeb has become an issue.”

The anxiety over Aurangzeb

“I have never seen Muslims celebrate Aurangzeb,” said Imtiaz Jaleel, Member of Parliament from Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency and the Maharashtra chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, or AIMIM.

In many ways, the controversy about Aurangzeb ripples out from the decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in February to change the name of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. The new name alluded to one of the most contentious acts of Aurangzeb – the torture and execution of Sambhaji Bhonsle, Shivaji’s son.

Several police officers, activists and Jaleel confirmed that posts praising Aurangzeb have increased in Maharashtra after the renaming of the city.

In the cases registered by the police, the most common sections invoked are 153A, 298, 505, and 295(A) of the Indian Penal code, which deal with spreading enmity between two religious groups, hurting religious sentiments, and malicious act to outrage religious belief. The charges carry a punishment varying from one to three years.

Adil Madni, secretary of an advocacy group in Aurangabad said most Muslims who have been booked are too poor to handle the legal challenge.

There is also growing discomfort in the community over such posts, with civil society organisations trying to dissuade teens from valorising Aurangzeb.

In April, when social activist Pratibha Shinde’s organisation arranged a cricket match for Muslim boys in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, the game was just a ruse to initiate such a conversation.

Between matches, Shinde and other activists of the Lok Sangarsh Morcha sat down for a discussion with the 28 boys who had signed up. They discussed the current political situation, communal tension and polarisation and ways to maintain peace.

That month, a Ram Navami procession had wound itself past a mosque in Jalgaon, with the crowd shouting provocative slogans.

Almost immediately, Shinde noted a rise in posts related to Aurangzeb on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. “Kids who knew nothing about Aurangzeb were posting praises of him on social media,” she said. “It seemed like an act of retaliation.”

Such posts attracted the attention of Hindu outfits. “Across Maharashtra, we saw bandhs being declared, police started booking Muslims for posts on Aurangzeb,” Shinde said. “We wanted to avoid such arrests in Jalgaon.”

Raju Shaikh, a member of Royal Foundation, which works in the education field in Amalner, said he has been monitoring local WhatsApp groups of Muslim youth. “If there are discussions about Aurangzeb, I personally reach out to them and counsel them,” he said.

‘A sense of dignity’

Jaleel, too, said he has directed municipal corporators to hold meetings with Muslim youth in the city, and urge them to refrain from volatile reactions or posts related to Aurangzeb.

The trend to hail the last ruling Mughal emperor, especially on social media, is recent, he says, as if “a sign of rebellion to express anger”.

“Youngsters are seeing toxic comments against their religion on social media,” Jaleel said. “And they are reacting.”

Irfan Engineer, director of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, said “putting minors behind bars is not the solution” to these posts.

“Aurangzeb is becoming an icon of resistance against Hindu hatred,” Engineer said, pointing to the rallies being held under the banner of Sakal Hindu Samaj that have stirred up animosity against Muslims. “They look at Aurangzeb to get a sense of dignity. Many may not really know much about either Aurangzeb or Shivaji,” Engineer said.

Najaf Haider, professor at Centre for Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, also believes that Aurangzeb is being projected as a symbol of a community’s identity. “I am curious why some are hailing him as a hero,” he said. “It could be wilful ignorance, plain innocence or a campaign. But in the end it is detrimental to the peace of the minority community.”