After Maharashtra's Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi said that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb “was not a cruel administrator”, Bihar JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar told The Indian Express that he supported historians who called Aurangzeb "a good administrator". Anwar's statement regarding Aurangzeb to news agency ANI on Wednesday had sparked a row, with the BJP advising him to withdraw his statement and his own party asking him to be “cautious”. BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan said, "History has enough evidence about the role of Aurangzeb. One should avoid any controversial statement. Our main focus should be on governance. BJP and JD(U) are committed to work towards development of Bihar." JD(U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, "We do not need to go into history. One should tread cautiously on controversial matters". Anwar told The Indian Express on Friday, "Talking about prominent historical figures is purely an academic subject. There cannot be a discussion on a clash between Aurangzeb and Shambhaji in a Legislative Assembly or Council. Historians are divided in their opinion on Aurangzeb, with some calling him a bad ruler and others calling him a good administrator. Personally, I am on the side of those historians who called him a good administrator. I am not getting into a debate on Aurangzeb versus his rivals, as it is a pure domain of researchers". The row on Aurangzeb was triggered after a new Bollywood film, Chhaava, depicted a clash between Shambhaji (son of Chhatrapati Shivaji) and Aurangzeb, depicting the Mughal king as inflicting torture upon the Maratha king. Azmi was suspended from Maharashtra Assembly following his comments that “Wrong history is being shown in Chhaava… Aurangzeb built several temples… I do not think he was a cruel administrator.” BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur had reacted sharply to Anwar's statement, saying, "Anwar should go to Pakistan for making such statements".
