Aurangzeb not relevant now, says RSS leader, condemns Nagpur violence

The statement was made by RSS national publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar in Bengaluru, addressing a press conference on the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha Baithak of the RSS to be held between March 21 and 23 in the town.

To a question on whether Aurangzeb, who died 300 years ago, was relevant today and if his tomb should be removed, Ambekar said: “I think (he is) not relevant.”

On the Nagpur violence, he added: “I think any type of violence is not good for society. The police have taken cognisance of it and will go into the details.”

Clashes had broken out in Nagpur on Monday evening after rumours spread that a holy book had been desecrated during a demonstration by the VHP and Bajrang Dal seeking the razing of Aurangzeb’s tomb, located in Khuldabad in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad) district.

On Tuesday, speaking in the Assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, suggested that the violence was pre-planned. “We found a trolley full of stones as well as weapons, which have been seized. Selected houses and establishments were targeted (in the violence).”

At the meeting of the ABPS, the highest decision-making body of the RSS where representatives of all its 32 organisations such as the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram etc will participate, two resolutions would be passed, one on Bangladesh and the other on the road ahead for the RSS, Ambekar said.

“The resolution on Bangladesh will deal with what’s happening in the country and what should be done about it. Everyone is aware of the atrocities on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. We want that the pride and sensitivity of Hindus should be respected, wherever they are in the world,” the Sangh leader said.

The second resolution at the ABPS meeting will be about the RSS completing hundred years later this year. “It has been a long journey. The resolution will express gratitude towards the society and spell out programmes that the RSS will take up in the future,” Ambekar said, adding that in the centenary year, the Sangh will reach out to all sections of society and take its ideas to them. “There will also be an effort to increase the participation of people from all walks of life in the Sangh’s programmes,” he added, specifically mentioning the ‘Panch Parivartan’ programme, which encompasses “promoting equality and fraternity (Samarasta)”, “adopting an environment-friendly lifestyle”, “reviving family values”, “fostering a sense of self rooted in Bharatiya values”, and “encouraging civic responsibility”.

The Sabha will also provide Sangh workers from across the country a chance to talk about the situation and work done in their region, he said, and organise training sessions for them. Ambekar said more and more youngsters were getting drawn to the RSS, putting the number of youngsters who had reached out through the Sangh website at more than 1.2 lakh.

Among those the RSS meeting will pay homage to is Abbakka Chowta, a 16th-century woman ruler who fought the Portuguese. The first Tulula Queen of Ullal in Karnataka, her 500th birth anniversary is coming up in 2025.