Aurangzeb row: Congress to hold Sadbhavana Shanti March in Nagpur on April 16

Mumbai: A month after the communal riots in Nagpur, the Congress, in a bid to mount pressure on the Devendra Fadnavis-led MahaYuti-NDA dispensation, will hold a Sadbhavana Shanti March at the winter capital of Maharashtra on Wednesday.

The March 17, 2025 communal flare-up took place hours after right-wing organisations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal gave a call to raze the grave of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb located in Khuldabad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. During the protests, some videos and rumours went viral on social media platforms, triggering the violence. One person has died in the violence. Over 100 persons have been arrested.

“Certain forces in the state are deliberately trying to incite unrest in the name of caste and religion. The religious violence that erupted in Nagpur last month was fuelled by these very elements. The Congress firmly believes in maintaining peace in the state and promoting social harmony,” the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said on the eve of the march.

“To uphold social harmony and peace in the state, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee has organised this Sadbhavana Shanti March,” the grand old party said.

The march, under the leadership of MPCC President Harshavardhan Sapkal, will see the participation of Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, AICC Secretary and Co-in-charge Kunal Choudhary, along with several senior party leaders, office bearers, and workers in large numbers.

The Sadbhavana Shanti March will begin at 10 am from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Statue Square, Gandhi Gate Mahal, and proceed through Kotwali Police Station, Badkas Chowk, Chitnis Park, Devdiya Bhavan, Bhalwarpura Chowk, and Ganjpeth, culminating at Rajwada Palace.

“Following the Nagpur violence, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress had formed a committee comprising senior leader Manikrao Thakare and others, to visit the incident site. However, local police denied permission to the Congress committee. Despite this, the committee engaged with various institutions and citizens in Nagpur, gathered complete information about the incident, and submitted a memorandum regarding the same to the Governor C P Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai.”