MUMBAI: Amid the controversy over right-wing organisations demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, RSS leader Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi clarified that the topic had been raised unnecessarily. “Aurangzeb died here (in Maharashtra), so his tomb has been built here. Those who have faith will go (there).”Joshi said their role model is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’. “Shivaji Maharaj even built the tomb of Afzal Khan. It symbolises India’s generosity and inclusiveness. The tomb will remain; whoever wants to go will go,” the former RSS general secretary said.Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, affiliated organisations of RSS, had staged a protest in Nagpur demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb at Khuldabad in Sambhaji Nagar. The protest snowballed into a controversy over the alleged insult of the Prophet by burning the sacred chadar during the protest. It resulted in violence in Nagpur.Earlier, RSS Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said that the tomb of the 17th-century Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, was not relevant today. Reacting to the Nagpur violence, he said, “We should not encourage any form of action. The police will investigate the case.” Joshi’s statement was also a response to MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s comments. At the Gudi Padwa rally in Shivaji Park, Thackeray appealed to people not to succumb to the politics of caste and religion-based hatred and not to look at history from a communal perspective.
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