'After Manipur, now Maharashtra burning': Sanjay Raut raises 'Aurangzeb grave' issue in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Raking up the 'Aurangzeb grave' issue in the Rajya Sabha, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said that after Manipur, Maharashtra was "burning", with riots taking place in Nagpur, and accused the Home Ministry of converting the country into a police state in the last few years.

Participating in a discussion on the working of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Raut tore into the government as he alleged that forces attempting to "destabilise" the nation are taking Aurangzeb's name repeatedly, including ministers in the Maharashtra government and those in senior positions in the central government.

"Nayi laashein bicchane ke liye gade murde ukhaad diye aur woh bhi Aurangzeb ke naam par (In the name of Aurangzeb, you have dug up buried bodies for the sake of laying new dead bodies)," Raut alleged, referring to the late Mughal Emperor's tomb.

"Aapko Aurangzeb ka kabar todna hai toh aapko kisne roka hai (if you want to demolish Aurangzeb's grave go ahead and do it, who is stopping you)," Raut said, highlighting that the BJP-led government was in the state and the Centre.

He said that till now Manipur was burning but now Maharashtra is also burning, referring to the "riots" in Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' electoral constituency.

Pointing out that there have been no riots in Nagpur in the last 300 years, Raut said, "If the powers that attempt to destabilise the country by taking Aurangzeb's name again and again, some of them are ministers in the Maharashtra government and senior positions in the central government. If we do not stop them, this country will not remain united and integrated".

He said it is the Home Ministry's job to maintain the unity and integrity of the country, but in the last few years, the nation has been converted into a "police state" and the Home Ministry is weakening political opponents and breaking political parties.

Large-scale stone pelting and arson were reported in several parts of Nagpur on Monday evening over rumours that a ‘chadar' with holy inscriptions was burnt during protests led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), seeking removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Thirty-three police personnel, including three Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)-rank officers, were injured during the violence in Nagpur on Monday.

A court in Nagpur has remanded 17 accused in the case in police custody till March 22. Police have booked Fahim Khan, the key accused in the violence, and five others on charges of sedition and spreading misinformation on social media.