"Distracting people": Rohit Pawar on demand to remove Aurangzeb's tomb

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 17 (ANI): Amid the demands by Sangh Parivar organisations to remove Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's tomb, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) or NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday said that they are "distracting" people from real issues as the Mahayuti government has failed to address problems being faced by farmers and youth in Maharashtra.
"Now suddenly when the government is not performing, not talking sense and not addressing issues related to youth and farmers, they (Bajrang Dal and allied forces) are trying to distract people from the real issues," Pawar told ANI.
Invoking the controversy sparked by controversial remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Pawar alleged that many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have "spoken against" Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule as well. He questioned the silence of Bajrang Dal and other Sangh Parivar organisations on this.
"There are many leaders of the BJP who have spoken against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule. That time, Bajrang Dal or associated agencies of the BJP were sleeping," he added.
The NCP SP MLA further stated that Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra was indicative of how power can be reduced to a mere tomb. He said that the Mughal emperor with all his might could not capture one inch of land under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje.
"BJP and its allied associations always tried to change history. Aurangzeb could not capture an inch of land in the territory under the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje. Even after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, soldiers, motivated by Shivaji's thoughts, never allowed him to capture any land. History should be protected so that even 200 years from now, people remember how power can be reduced to just a tomb," Pawar added.
Earlier on Sunday, BJP MLA T Raja Singh asserted his resolve to make India a "Hindu Rashtra" while demanding that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's tomb at Khuldabad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district of Maharashtra be "eliminated".
He praised the remarks made by members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal offering karseva (service for religious cause) to remove Aurangzeb's grave."Activists from our Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad made a commendable statement and said, 'If the government can't bulldoze, we will carry out the karseva on his (Aurangzeb's) grave'. I support it," Singh added. (ANI)