The battle over Aurangzeb: The ‘Chhaava’ effect

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The battle over Aurangzeb: The ‘Chhaava’ effect

Nagpur witnessed widespread mob violence on Monday night—soon after Hindu groups staged protests against the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb. This is a developing story with lots of moving parts, so let’s start with a timeline:

Earlier on Monday morning, members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal gathered in Nagpur. They burnt an effigy of Aurangzeb and demanded the removal of his tomb—which is located in the town of Khuldabad, nearly 500 km away from the city.
By the evening, rumours had begun to spread that the VHP and Bajrang Dal members also desecrated the Quran as part of their protest.
Groups of angry people (likely Muslims) took to Nagpur’s streets—pelting stones and setting vehicles ablaze. According to eyewitness reports, private property like shops and clinics were also damaged.
While the violence was reported across Nagpur, the epicentre was the old neighbourhood of Mahal. It has a sizable number of Muslim and Hindu residents living next to each other.
Police responded to the violence with tear gas and lathis. Over 50 people have been arrested so far, and 33 policemen have been injured.
Curfews have been imposed in several neighbourhoods—shops, schools and workplaces in Mahal are closed, and much of the neighbourhood is barricaded.

You can see a clip of the mob violence below:

Burning of the chadar: According to opposition parties, the VHP and Bajrang Dal protesters burnt a holy chadar with verses of the Quran—which sparked the rage among Muslim residents:

Speaking to ThePrint about the spark that lit the fire, Prafulla Gudadhe, a Congress leader, said a ‘mazar’ where people offer ‘chadar’ stands in the Mahal area. “The uniqueness of that ‘mazar’ was that both Hindus and Muslims go there to offer ‘chadar’. It could be clothes, flowers, anything. This is the tradition here,” said Gudadhe. “However, then the VHP and Bajrang Dal workers took a chadar of green colour—which had some holy inscriptions written on it—and burnt it, along with Aurangzeb’s effigy.”

VHP strongly denies doing any such thing—even though the Nagpur Police Commissioner verified videos of the burning:

About Aurangzeb’s tomb: The Mughal emperor died in 1707 in Bhingar. But his final resting place is located 130 km away in Khuldabad:

Before his death, Aurangzeb expressed his wish to be buried in Khuldabad, near the dargah of Sufi saint Sheikh Zainuddin, whom he had always admired and considered his guiding force. Unlike the grand tombs of Akbar and Humayun, Aurangzeb’s mausoleum is simple and unembellished, as per his own instructions.

Btw, Khuldabad is also less than 30 km away from a city now called Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar—but was previously named Aurangabad (as in Aurangzeb).

Angst over Aurangzeb: The sound and fury against the last “effective” Mughal emperor is hardly new. As historians admit, he was a truly unpleasant man:

For a start - he came to the throne after imprisoning his father and having his older brother killed. And in comparison with other Mughal rulers, he fared badly - his great-grandfather Akbar was described as the benign secular ruler, grandfather Jahangir was known for his love for art and architecture and father Shah Jahan was the great romantic who built the Taj Mahal.

But Aurangzeb is remembered as a devout Muslim, ruthless tyrant and certified bigot—with ambitions of expanding his empire by any means necessary.

A BJP theme song: In recent decades, the BJP—and its allied Hindutva groups—have made Aurangzeb the exemplar of Mughal (hence Muslim) atrocities. PM Modi himself repeatedly namechecks his fanaticism at rallies. The Nagpur violence was prefaced by Maharashtra cabinet minister Nitesh Rane suggesting a “Babri Masjid-type” action to tear down Aurangzeb’s tomb—while CM Fadnavis gloomily declared he was duty-bound to protect the tomb—which is a ‘Monument of National Importance’ certified by the Archaeological Survey of India:

Devendra Fadnavis said it was “unfortunate” that the State had to protect and care for the tomb of Aurangzeb, a person who killed thousands of people. “It is protected by the ASI, so we have to abide by the law; however, I assure you only Shivaji Maharaj will be glorified. I will not allow glorification or ennoblement of Aurangzeb, asserted Mr. Fadnavis.

The ‘Chhaava’ effect: This latest outpouring of rage over Aurangzeb was an after-effect of the movie—which offered a highly fictionalised account of the conflict between the great Chhatrapati Sambhaji (Shivaji’s son) and the “monstrous” emperor—who tortures and eventually kills him. The blockbuster has earned Rs 752.8 crore to become the eighth-highest grossing Hindi film ever. It has also sparked scenes of mass hysteria in some cinema halls:

Then there was this ‘Chhaava’ cosplayer in Nagpur, no less:

Point to note: Fadnavis cited the movie as emotional justification for Hindu rage—"Chhaava movie ignited people's anger against Aurangzeb”—but accused Muslims of a “pre-planned conspiracy” and a “targeted attack on specific houses.”

The bottomline: We leave you with this bit of historical perspective:

[Professor Nadeem Rezavi says] that Aurangzeb "invoked religion to cover up for his political failures and strengthen his authority - much like India's present-day leaders… He was a tyrant and an emperor who lived 300 years ago. At the time there was no modern democracy, there was no constitution to guide him… So if someone is indulging in the politics of the 17th Century, they are committing a far greater crime than Aurangzeb did in the 17th Century," he adds.

Reading list: The Hindu offers an overview of the violence—while The Print has a detailed on-the-ground report. Indian Express looks at a problem called Nitesh Rane. For more analysis on ‘Chhaava’, check out Frontline and Times of India. BBC News has an excellent 2022 piece on the debate over Aurangzeb. This longer Open Magazine essay on the emperor himself offers a fairly balanced corrective to much of the current hysteria.

Israel rains death on Gaza… again!

Israel killed at least 404 residents of Gaza and injured 560—marking one of the deadliest days in the invasion. Many of them were women and children. The strikes mark the end of the hard-won ceasefire negotiated in January—and the three-stage deal put together by the Biden White House. PM Bibi Netanyahu says the attacks are “only the beginning.”

Tel Aviv’s list of excuses: for resuming the war are varied. Tel Aviv says Hamas reneged on the ceasefire—by refusing to free the rest of the hostages—and the bodies of those who have died in captivity. Bombing civilians will help secure their release: “The previous releases proved that military pressure is a necessary condition for freeing hostages.” But, but, but: merely releasing the hostages will not stop the carnage:

In a recorded statement broadcast on national television, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel would press ahead until it realizes all of its war goals — destroying Hamas and freeing all hostages held by the militant group.

Point to note: Tel Aviv has now circled right back to its OG justification for killing over 48,000 Palestinians in 17 months:

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks. The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect.

Quick reminder: The ceasefire deal was meant to unfold in three phases. During the first six-week phase (ended March 1), Hamas freed 33 hostages in exchange for 1,000+ Palestinian prisoners. Israel was to partially withdraw its forces from the strip as well. But details of the second and third phases were left fuzzy—and were being negotiated in Qatar. Those talks have been stalled for weeks—with Israel insisting that the first stage be extended until mid-April. Hamas instead demanded negotiations for a permanent truce.

The big picture: Ever since his BFF Donald Trump returned to the White House, Netanyahu has been itching to restart the war. Trump gave him a carte blanche by making repeated references to Gaza Riviera—his plan to ethnically cleanse the strip. The bottomline: Bibi needs Hamas to stay in power:

Several Israeli analysts, several within the political opposition and several within Netanyahu’s own government said that this was the plan all along — a resumption of the fighting, to go back to full-scale war... And in fact, there’s a new army chief of staff, one who said that 2025 is going to be a year of war — noting that Israel still has a lot of goals to accomplish when it comes to the Gaza Strip, meaning that they are in no way finished with their military action.

For more on the strikes, read Al Jazeera. Associated Press looks at the larger context for Bibi’s decision. The Telegraph has the usual chorus of “strong denouncements” from the Europeans and Arabs.

Meanwhile, in Yemen: Trump also plans to indefinitely rain death via strikes on the country—to get rid of the Houthis:

Trump, writing on his social media platform Truth Social, said his administration targeted the Houthis over their “unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism.” He noted the disruption Houthi attacks have caused through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, key waterways for energy and cargo shipments between Asia and Europe through Egypt’s Suez Canal. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Trump said.

Great minds… etc etc. Yup, the risk of a wider Middle East war just got way higher. (Associated Press)

The record-breaking ocean voyage of… iguanas!

Iguanas were originally found in the Americas—in countries such as Mexico, the Galápagos Islands and the United States. So how did they get all the way to Fiji—which is ”a staggering 5,000 miles” away? Scientists now have an astonishing answer:

The probable mechanism of dispersal was rafting on a vegetation mat, so iguanas that voyaged from North America to Fiji could have had food from the raft itself on their journey across the Pacific. They were also likely resilient to the conditions they faced on the way, such as lack of standing water and high temperatures.

They made the 2.5-4 month journey around 34 million years ago—long before humans were around. FYI: “That commute would be the longest-known transoceanic dispersal of a terrestrial vertebrate.” Go iguanas! (Gizmodo)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Investors made a record-breaking dash away from US stocks in March, slashing equity allocations by 40 percentage points as Trump’s chaotic trade war spooked Wall Street.
In better news for stock markets, Bulls stampeded through Dalal Street as Nifty and Sensex surged over 1.5%, adding Rs 7 trillion to investors' pockets—the biggest market rally in over a month.
Tinder has launched Tinder U in India, a new in-app feature that lets university students connect with each other.
Google's new Gemini Flash 2.0 can reportedly remove watermarks from copyrighted images.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis warned that AI could outsmart humans in just five years, with AGI matching human-level skills—and replacing jobs—sooner than expected.
In a privacy twist, Amazon will start sending all Alexa voice recordings from Echo devices to the cloud for processing from March 28, removing the opt-out setting that kept audio requests local.
India was hit by over half of all ransomware attacks in 2024. A massive fourth-quarter spike saw the last quarter of the year account for 33% of the year’s total.
China’s BYD has unveiled a flash-charging EV system that powers cars in 5-8 minutes—almost as fast as a regular gas fill-up.
Google is snapping up fast-growing startup Wiz for $32 billion—the tech giant's biggest deal ever—as it doubles down on cybersecurity to outpace Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud race.
Roblox is launching Cube, a generative AI tool that lets creators whip up 3D objects from a single prompt—like “orange racing car with black stripes.”
GM is teaming up with Nvidia to build self-driving cars, tapping into the chipmaker's AI muscle for its next-gen vehicles. Also on show from Nvidia: two new AI chip families unveiled at its GTC conference: Blackwell Ultra, shipping later this year, and Rubin GPUs, expected in 2026.
ChatGPT gets the blues too—new research shows it displays anxiety when users share traumatic stories, making it less effective in therapeutic settings. Surprisingly, mindfulness exercises can calm the bot down.

sports & entertainment

Pakistan-origin cricketer Junaid Zafar Khan died after collapsing from extreme heat during a local match in Adelaide, where temperatures soared above 40°C.

health & environment

Korean scientists have engineered bacteria that can turn glucose into plastic, offering a potential eco-friendly alternative to fossil-fuel-based production.
Indian Express has a good read on how restoring Wular Lake’s retention capacity is crucial to shielding Kashmir from frequent floods.
A once-daily Ebola pill has shown 100% survival rates in monkeys, raising hopes for a breakthrough cure.

meanwhile, in the world

The great dealmaker Donald Trump got on a call with Vladimir Putin and got him to make a "huge" concession: He will stop bombing Ukraine's electricity, oil and gas facilities. Nope, Vlad didn't agree to a proper ceasefire.
What Moscow was most excited about after the call: A joint ice hockey series. The reason: Russia has been banned by the International Ice Hockey Federation for all tournaments the organisation runs since its invasion of Ukraine.
A federal judge ruled that Musk's role in dismantling an aid agency likely violated the Constitution and ordered partial restoration of its functions—marking the first time Musk, a top Trump adviser, has been legally restrained.
The tragedy just keeps on continuing—Dominique Pelicot now faces fresh accusations from his daughter, Caroline Darian, who claims he raped her too—after he and 50 other men were convicted of raping her mother in a landmark trial.
Hungary is pushing a bill to ban Budapest Pride and use facial recognition to track attendees, doubling down on its anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown.
Look who’s finally home: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams splashed down off Florida’s coast, ending a nine-month space odyssey that began with a botched test flight.
French politician Raphael Glucksmann wants the Statue of Liberty returned to France, arguing the US no longer embodies the values it once symbolised.
The Guardian has a good read on “bathroom divorce” as the latest trend for couples who can’t stand each other’s habits—his-and-hers bathrooms might just save marriages, but they come with a hefty price tag.
Thailand is slashing its visa-free stays from 60 to 30 days, cracking down on tourists using the waiver to run illegal businesses.
Drones will now do some heavy lifting on Mount Everest, airlifting loads for Sherpas—and maybe even delivering a hot meal or two.
Physicists have cracked the code to better espresso, revealing how water “channeling” messes with extraction—and how to fix it for a flawless brew.
San Francisco’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, is giving tech billionaires more say in City Hall, creating a de facto council of oligarchs to shape the city’s future.
In more billionaire news, Melinda French Gates is building her own legacy—running her own company, single at 60, and reshaping billionaire philanthropy. Elle has more details.

meanwhile, in India

The Enforcement Directorate raided eight locations linked to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and its investment arm in Bengaluru over alleged forex violations.

Three things to see

One: The dark sci-fi thriller ‘Black Mirror’ returns for a season 7—featuring 6 episodes and headlined by big names such as Peter Capaldi, Will Poulter, Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae and Awkwafina. Also returning—Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson and Billy Magnussen—for a sequel episode. The new season drops on Netflix on April 10. (USA Today)

Two: Yes, there will be a second installment of ‘Freaky Friday’—an entirely forgettable movie that is now being dubbed ‘iconic’ thanks to collective memory loss. Yes, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are making a comeback as well—because why ruin a mediocre thing? The movie is slated for August 8. (Hollywood Reporter)

Three: Okay, we will concede that the recruitment of a 40-day old black lab puppy to the Madurai City sniffer dog squad isn’t exactly news. But the Madurai cops clearly thought it deserved both a PR release and a full-on photo op—carried dutifully by The Hindu lol! FYI: his name is Pughazh (as in, ‘fame’).