The controversy erupted after Azmi made the remarks while addressing reporters in Mumbai at the commencement of the Maharashtra Assembly session.
Responding to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent comparison of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with Aurangzeb, Azmi argued that the Mughal ruler was being misrepresented.
Following his remarks, Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske filed a complaint at Thane’s Wagle Estate Police Station, leading to an FIR being registered against Azmi under sections 299, 302, 356(1), and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Azmi had stated, “Aurangzeb got several temples built. In Varanasi, he saved a Hindu girl child from a priest who had an evil eye on her. He had the priest trampled by elephants.”
Defending his stance, he had further elaborated, “I don’t consider Aurangzeb a cruel ruler. During that era, power struggles were political, not religious. Aurangzeb’s army had many Hindus, just as Chhatrapati Shivaji’s army had several Muslims.”
