Opinion: Outrage over Aurangzeb is a smokescreen—the Muslim community itself is the real target

In Nagpur, a full-blown riot has erupted over Aurangzeb’s tomb, which Hindutva groups are demanding be removed. The timing is hardly coincidental. The sentiments brewing over Chhaava, a film that depicts Aurangzeb’s atrocities against Sambhaji Maharaj, have reignited old hostilities, framing the era as a battle of Hindu defiance against Islamic rule. Once again, historical figures—long buried in textbooks and monuments—are being summoned to the present, not as subjects of scholarly debate but as catalysts for political tensions.