PATNA: After Maharashtra and UP, Aurangzeb lit up Bihar’s political pyrotechnics Thursday when JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar described the Mughal ruler as a “good king” and drew scorn from party colleagues and those of governing NDA ally BJP . BJP legislator Hari Bhushan Thakur demanded Anwar’s expulsion from the House and called for him to be sent to “Pakistan or Syria”. JD(U) MLA Sanjeev Kumar called for Anwar to be packed off to Gaza.
The political storm erupted after Anwar defended SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who was suspended from the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday for praising Aurangzeb. “Aurangzeb was not a cruel ruler, but a good king. It is the job of historians to discuss it, not UP CM Yogi Adityanath. Is he a historian?” Anwar asked.
The MLC took another swipe at the UP CM, saying “Yogi must learn from (JD(U) mascot and Bihar CM) Nitish Kumar how a state is run.”
The blowback was swift, with BJP’s Thakur leading the charge. “Aurangzeb was a cruel ruler who imprisoned his father, killed his brothers, destroyed several Hindu temples and raped many women. If any person heaps praises on such a ruler, stern legal action must be initiated against him, be it from JD(U) or my own party,” Thakur said. The BJP legislator demanded the MLC’s disqualification while pushing for renaming places associated with Aurangzeb and Bakhtiyar Khilji in Bihar.
