Nagpur violence pre-planned; won’t tolerate Aurangzeb's glorification: VHP

Nagpur: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday said it won’t tolerate any attempts to glorify Aurangzeb and claimed the violence in Nagpur a day before was pre-planned.

The administration should take stern action against those responsible for clashes and invoke National Security Act (NSA), VHP Vidarbha Prant Sah Mantri Devesh Mishra told reporters here.

He also rubbished claims of a ‘chadar’ with holy inscriptions being burnt during protests led by VHP and Bajrang Dal in Nagpur, which apparently triggered clashes.

A protest against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb triggered violence during which several houses and vehicles were vandalised, police said.

The demonstrations in Nagpur were among many held across the state on Monday to demand the removal of the Mughal emperor's tomb at Khultabad near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“We won’t tolerate glorification of Aurangzeb,” Mishra said.

He alleged the agitations by VHP were conducted peacefully in Maharashtra, barring Nagpur "where a few followers of Aurangzeb spread rumours to instigate violence".

"Maharashtra belongs to Sambhaji Maharaj. Our issue is the torture he suffered from Aurangzeb. We don't want any symbol of Aurangzeb in Maharashtra, and VHP has decided to remove his tomb. But some people in Nagpur still glorify Aurangzeb," the VHP leader said.

Mishra alleged the violence in Nagpur was pre-planned.

He demanded slapping of stringent NSA on perpetrators and razing of houses of those named in the FIRs by police.

He said the "movement" to remove the tomb of Aurangzeb will continue.

VHP 'Dharmprasar Pramukh' (Vidarbha Prant) Rajkumar Sharma claimed an appeal was made from a mosque in front of Chitnis Park, leading to the gathering of a mob on Monday.

He demanded action against trustees of the mosque and the maulvis concerned.

"We have requested the (Nagpur) police commissioner and the (district) guardian minister to book the perpetrators under the NSA Act," he said.