He was not an ideal ruler and was a controversial and polarising figure among Mughal Emperors. His kingdom was the largest empire of India at that time, stretching from Kabul to Myanmar, producing 25 per cent of the world’s economy. The last effective Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, died in 1707, yet his ghost is still haunting PM Modi, BJP, RSS, and wider supporters of Hindutva ideology.

The evil and cruel depiction of Aurangzeb in Chhaava is a perfect example of a selective interpretation of history. The result was obvious: riots broke out, and some zealots came forward to demolish Aurangzeb’s grave after 318 years of his death. To understand history and historical figures, one has to employ critical analysis and consider the prevailing geopolitical and socio-economic factors of that era.

Calling Aurangzeb an anti-Hindu king is a narrow-based and selective understanding of the history of Medieval India. Mughals were not oppressive and cruel Emperors of India and they did not loot India as the British did. For instance, during the time of Aurangzeb, the subcontinent’s GDP was around 25 per cent of the global economy, surpassing China and Britain. Furthermore, the Mughals adopted Indian culture, traditions and customs and employed a strategy of peaceful coexistence among various communities. Therefore, it was the British Oriental narrative which called the Mughals anti-Hindu to strengthen its divide-and-rule strategy.

Likewise, if Aurangzeb were an anti-Hindu king, why did he have the largest number of Hindus in his bureaucracy and military? Why were his most loyal and faithful military commanders Hindus like Raja Jaswant Singh and Raja Jai Singh? Why was he granted land at Shatrunjaya, Girnar, and Mount Abu—all Jain pilgrimage destinations in Gujarat? Why did he patronise the Mahadev temple on the bank of Sangam in Arail? Yes, he destroyed some temples such as Somnath Temple, Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple. But do you know that Aurangzeb also demolished mosques? Modern historians argue that the demolition of religious sites by Aurangzeb was driven by politics rather than faith. Famous Indian historian Ram Puniyani opined that the demolition of religious sites by rulers was a tradition of medieval Indian Emperors to establish their power against rivals and was often used for political purposes. For instance, historical records indicate that some Hindus were also responsible for the destruction of Hindu temples despite having a staunch faith in Hinduism.

Therefore, most historians argue that the policies of Aurangzeb were driven by politics, although he was a devout Muslim—in statecraft, it was politics and interest which were at the driving seat for him, as with other medieval Indian kings.

However, the Mughals started being depicted as evil during the British era to justify their own rule and oppression of India and its people. Through education, books, newspapers and common folkways it was propagated that Mughals were the same as the British. Of course not! The British Empire looted India in a way that India’s economy plummeted from 25 to 2 per cent of the global economy in 1947, besides rampant poverty, millions of killings of innocent Indians, and the erasing of the local culture of India, according to eminent Indian historian and politician Shashi Tharoor.

After the partition of India, the banner of politics of hatred against Muslims was raised by RSS and is now in the hands of PM Modi and BJP. Targeting Muslim rulers of medieval India serves two purposes. First, it depicts Muslim rulers as evil guys who targeted Hindus because of their faith. For eight hundred years, especially in Northern India, Hindus were subject to humiliation and conversion under the Muslim rulers. And it was always a Hindu-Muslim problem. The best way to rewrite history is through the lens of the BJP-RSS narrative.

That’s the most misunderstood analysis of history. Most Indian and foreign historians argue that India was peaceful and tolerant during medieval times and there was coexistence of different faiths, people, communities and cultures, and there were hardly any communal tensions among them.

Second, calling Muslim rulers, especially Aurangzeb, evil serves the purpose of hatred and polarisation which suits the vote bank of PM Modi and the BJP. It is an open secret that PM Modi dances to the tune of Hindutva politics, which is based on the exclusive ideology of hatred against Muslims. And it is unfortunate to see that the BJP, the biggest political party in India, has no Muslim MP or Minister in the cabinet. And PM Modi often utters these magical words—Mughal, Muslim and Mutton—to galvanise his Hindu vote bank against the already marginalised Muslim community.

Sadly, Bollywood’s leading movies and actors have become the official mouthpiece of Hindutva ideology. The recent historical movies of Bollywood depict Muslim rulers as evil, bad guys and looters, whereas Hindu rulers are painted as righteous, pious and defenders of Mother India—Chhaava, Panipat and Padmaavat.

Again, the writer is not defending the evil aspects of Aurangzeb as he was not like Mughal Emperor Akbar, whose statecraft was based on tolerance, coexistence, pluralism, patronage and fusion of different faiths, cultures, traditions and customs. However, PM Modi and BJP are doing politics of hatred against Muslims in the name of Aurangzeb.

Likewise, one can see the pattern of PM Modi using history for his Hindutva ideology. He and his party are solely targeting Muslims and making them second-class citizens of India, without any political, economic or legal rights under the grand project of RSS. And at the moment, it seems that he has been successful in marginalising Muslims politically, economically and socially. Various reports indicate that India is more polarised and communal under the reign of PM Modi. Muslims are deliberately targeted and harassed, and their businesses are forced to close under the shiny reign of PM Modi.

To summarise, correcting the historical record is a fine thing, but using distorted history for narrow interest is the perfect recipe for a storm. And PM Modi, BJP, RSS, and Bollywood are working on the replication of distorted history for the Hindutva project, which exacerbates intolerance, extremism, hatred, and religious tensions, and could reproduce the same scenario of 1947 for India.

Sher Ali Bukhari
The writer is a UET alumni with keen interest in Pakistan’s foreign policy.