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Over the past two weeks, tip-offs have been registered against several minors across the state, including a 14-year-old boy from Beed, for uploading photos and videos of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Many of these publications have drawn comparisons between Aurangzeb and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, especially around 2 June, when the 350th anniversary of the coronation of the Maratha chief was celebrated in Maharashtra.
At least five minors who have been taken into custody by the Kolhapur Police are being housed in the Kolhapur Juvenile Centre.
Besides the coronation anniversary of Shivaji Maharaj, the change of name of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, son of Shivaji, was formalized in February this year, which is seen as one of the factors that led to the publications being loaded.
While in the case of Kolhapur and Beed, police have registered a case against minors for uploading portraits of Aurangzeb or the 18th-century ruler of Mysore Tipu Sultan in some cases, others held in similar cases across the state are mainly young men in the 18-25 age group.
In most of these cases, the post relates to a comparison between Aurangzeb/Tipu Sultan and Shivaji Maharaj and was uploaded on the day when the Maratha chief’s coronation was being celebrated across the state.
In most of these cases, it is activists from religious groups, particularly Hindu groups, who approach the police seeking action against such social media posts uploaded from the other community and followed half a day in the area. Ironically, one of the officers said that one of the two photos of Aurangzeb shared on social media platforms that got users into trouble is from an NCERT textbook.
In the case of the incident in Beed, on 8 June the police registered an FIR against a 14-year-old resident of Beed who shared a post on Aurangzeb stating “baap to baap rahega”. The boy in Class 9 came to Mumbai at a relative’s house during the school holidays when he found out that the post was causing trouble. Afterwards, the boy uploaded a video apologizing to anyone who had hurt his feelings.
Beed SP Nandkumar Thakur said, “As soon as the boy returns, we will call him in for questioning and as a measure he will be taken to the juvenile court.” The boy’s family did not want to comment on this issue.
Apart from the Beed case, five minors were arrested by the Kolhapur Police two days before the Beed incident.
An officer said that in Kolhapur after a minor uploaded a post on Aurangzeb, Hindu groups approached the police seeking action. While the police recorded the FIR, they were unable to arrest him immediately because it was a juvenile. This led to protests and stone-throwing on the other side the next day, forcing the police to resort to turning.
One of the five minors currently in the juvenile home has not seen his parents since June 6, when he was arrested by the police. “Today we went to meet him, but since CM will be in Kolhapur today, we were asked to come tomorrow (Wednesday),” his father told The Indian Express over the phone.
The family gave the boy a phone during the lockdown to attend online classes. “I spent about 2,000 to 3,000 rupees and gave him the phone. Since the lockdown was lifted, he has not been using the phone. But he created his own Instagram account and was using it from his friend’s phone. His father, who works as an auto-rickshaw driver, said. The boy has three brothers.
“We will make him apologize if he did something wrong. We are also ready to apologize. This is Kolhapur and we are not hurting each other and even in the future we want to live in peace,” the father said.
In the case of another 15-year-old boy arrested by Kolhapur Police, his family was in shock when Kolhapur Police showed up at their house to arrest him for hurting Hindu feelings by sharing a video of Mughal King Aurangzeb. The family wondered how a 15-year-old could humiliate an entire community.
“He has an Instagram account on his mother’s phone. He shared a reel he had seen on a friend’s timeline. At the age of 15, he had no idea it would hurt Hindu feelings,” his uncle told The Indian Express. Another family member said : “We went ahead and deleted it as soon as we learned of the fuss it had caused,” adding that all of his posts were subsequently deleted.
According to FIR, the Instagram account of these three minors shows the reels of Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan with the slogan “Bab to Bab Rahiga,” while some of the videos feature Aurangzeb’s image with the line “Bab, the true king of every house.”
“The said video was broadcast on the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a Hindu idol with the intention of hurting the feelings of Hindus and creating enmity between two communities,” said the Shahupuri Police Station FIR.
According to the FIR, the police have filed charges 295(a) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to stir up the religious feelings of any class by insulting their religion or religious beliefs), 505(2) (whoever makes, publishes or distributes any statement, rumor or Report with intent to incite any class or community) from the IPC.
In fact, within weeks of Aurangabad’s name change, one of the first few instances of this tendency was seen when on March 17 it was alleged that two local residents of Sarvade village in Kolhapur district – Muhammad Momin (19) and Faizan Saudagar (23) – had changed status their WhatsApp, praising Aurangzeb and criticizing the name change.
After crowds gathered outside their lodgings, an FIR was registered against the two – Moamen, a seller of jute bags, was arrested while Saudi, a beat driver, went missing. While Momin had to spend nearly a week behind bars, Sudagar managed to get pre-emptive bail. On June 8, Aseem Pathan, who was in his early 20s according to the police, was booked by the Mirajgaon Police in Ahmednagar for sharing a photo of Aurangzeb on his social media profile. Local Hindu groups alerted the police, and a half day in the area ensued.
“As most of them are young people using social media accounts, many of those booked in such cases are young people,” said a senior IPS official. “In most of these cases, local religious organizations reach out to us to register a case from either side of the groups.” Hinduism is relatively more active. If no action is taken, the law and order situation may worsen, so we take the necessary action.”
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