Even a schoolboy not spared from FIR over Aurangzeb posts in Maharashtra
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Mumbai: The Maharashtra Police have registered a case against a 14-year-old boy for posting a status message glorifying the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, despite the boy deleting the alleged post and issuing an apology after communal tension arose due to the demands of Hindutva organizations. The incident occurred while the teenager was on vacation in Mumbai.
The FIR has been filed under sections 295(A) and 505(B) of the Indian Penal Code, which pertain to deliberate acts intended to outrage religious sentiments and the description of content with the intention to incite offence, respectively.
In a related development, tensions flared in Ahmednagar when some youths displayed photos of Aurangzeb during a procession. Similarly, Kolhapur city experienced turmoil over the alleged use of an objectionable audio message, accompanied by an image of the 18th-century Mysore ruler, Tipu Sultan, as a social media status message by certain locals.
The police said that the recent change of Aurangabad's name to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar has resulted in a surge in communal unrest. In response to the controversial social media post, commercial establishments near the village's market area in Beed observed a half-day shutdown in protest.
To prevent any untoward incidents, heavy police deployment has been arranged in the area, and the situation remains calm. The authorities are closely monitoring the situation in various districts of Maharashtra, where communal tension has been on the rise due to the circulation of posts glorifying historical figures like Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan on social media platforms.
