Several minors booked across state for uploading photos of Aurangzeb on social media

At least five minors booked by the Kolhapur police are lodged at a juvenile centre in Kolhapur.

Besides the coronation anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj, it was the name change of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Shivaji’s son, formalised in February this year, seen as one of the factors to have led to the posts being uploaded.

While in case of Kolhapur and Beed, the police have registered a case against minors for uploading photographs of Aurangzeb or 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan in some cases, others booked in similar cases across the state are mainly youngsters in the 18–25 age group.

In majority of these cases, the post relates to a comparison between Aurangzeb / Tipu Sultan and Shivaji Maharaj and uploaded around the day when the Maratha leader’s coronation was being celebrated across the state.

In most of these cases, it is activists from religious groups, mainly Hindu groups, that approach police seeking action against these social media posts uploaded from the other community and follow it up with a half-day bandh in the locality. Ironically, an officer said that one of the two Aurangzeb images that have been shared on social media platforms landing users in trouble is from an NCERT textbook.

In the case of the incident at Beed, the police on June 8 registered an FIR against a 14-year-old Beed resident who had shared post on Aurangzeb stating ‘baap to baap rahega’. The boy who is in Class IX had come to Mumbai at a relative’s place during school vacations when he found that the post had led to trouble. The boy then uploaded a video apologising to anyone whose sentiment was hurt.

Beed SP Nandkumar Thakur said, “Once the boy returns, we will call him for questioning and as procedure he will be produced before a juvenile court.” The boy’s family did not want to comment on the issue.

Apart from the Beed case, five minors were arrested by the Kolhapur police two days prior to the Beed incident.

An officer said that in Kolhapur after a minor had uploaded a post on Aurangzeb, Hindu groups approached the police seeking action. While the police registered an FIR, they could not immediately arrest him as he was a juvenile. This led to the other side holding protests and stone pelting the next day due to which police had to resort to lathicharge.

One of the five minors currently in a juvenile home hasn’t met his parents since June 6, when he was picked up by the police. “Today we had gone to meet him but since CM is going to be in Kolhapur today, we were told to come to come tomorrow (Wednesday),” his father told The Indian Express over the phone.

The boy was given phone by the family during lockdown to attend online classes. “I spent nearly Rs 2000-3000 and gave him the phone. Since the lockdown was lifted, he hasn’t been using the phone. But he had created his Instagram account and was using it from his friend’s phone. We have no idea what Instagram is and nobody has clearly said what crime he has done,” said his father, who works as an autorickshaw driver. The boy has three siblings.

“We will make him apologise if he has done something wrong. We too are ready to apologise. This is Kolhapur and we never hurt each other and even in future want to live in peace,” the father said.

In the case of another 15-year-old apprehended by Kolhapur police, his family was in a state of shock when Kolhapur police showed up at their residence to arrest him for hurting sentiments of Hindus by sharing a video of Mughal king Aurangzeb. The family wondered how a 15-years old could insult an entire community.

“He has an instagram account on his mother’s mobile. He shared a reel which he had seen on a friend’s timeline. A 15-year old, he had no idea that it would hurt the sentiments of Hindus,” his uncle told The Indian Express. “We even went ahead and deleted it as soon as we came to know about the uproar it had created,” another family member said, adding that all his posts were later deleted.

As per the FIR, the instagram account of these three five minors show reels of Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan with a slogan ‘Baap to baap rahega,’ while some videos have Aurangazeb’s photo with a line ‘Baap, the true king of every home.’

“The said video was broadcast on the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrpati Shivaji Maharaj who is the idol of Hindus with an intent to hurt the feelings of Hindus and to create enmity between two communities,” the FIR at the Shahupuri police station said.

According to the FIR, police have slapped charges 295 (A) (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505 (2) (Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report, with intent to incite any class or community) of the IPC.

In fact, within weeks of the name change of Aurangabad one of the first few instances of this trend was seen when on March 17, two locals from Sarvade village in Kolhapur district Mohammad Momin (19) and Faizan Saudagar (23) – were alleged to have changed their WhatsApp status, praising Aurangzeb and criticising the name change.

After crowds gathered outside their residences, an FIR was registered against the two — Momin, a jute bag seller, was arrested, while Saudagar, a tempo driver, went missing. While Momin had to spend nearly a week behind bars, Saudagar managed to get anticipatory bail. One June 8, Aseem Pathan, who as per police is in his early twenties, was booked by the Mirajgaon police in Ahmednagar for sharing a photograph of Aurangzeb on his social media profile. Local Hindu groups alerted the police followed by a half day bandh in the area.

A senior IPS officer said, “Since mostly youngsters have been using social media accounts, many who have been booked in such cases are youngsters. In most of these cases it is local religious organisations that approach us to register a case from either side. Hindu groups are comparatively much more active. If no action is taken, the law and order situation could worsen, hence we take the necessary action.”