Curfew imposed in Kolhapur after tensions over social media posts; Fadnavis says glorification of Aurangzeb will not be tolerated

Social media posts reportedly glorifying Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th C. Mysore state ruler Tipu Sultan.

Tension prevailed in Kolhapur on Wednesday after protests by Hindutva outfits against ‘objectionable’ social media posts reportedly glorifying Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th century Mysore state ruler Tipu Sultan turned violent, leading to vehicles and establishments being vandalized and the administration imposing curfew.

Authorities said that right-wing outfits had called for a shutdown of the district with a large number of these activists congregating at the Kolhapur city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Chowk.

The Kolhapur police had on Tuesday launched a probe into some social media status messages showing images of the 17th century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th-century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan accompanied by audio messages allegedly objectionable to Hindu sentiments, as claimed by these outfits.

The authorities said they had acted by lodging a complaint against those who had put-up these objectionable statuses and had managed to pacify leaders of the Hindutva outfits to call off their demonstration today. However, the protests spiralled out of control by 11.30 a.m. after some unruly elements resorted to stone-pelting.

By noon, the demonstrators became aggressive with reports of a mob entering Muslim-dominated localities and resorting to stone-pelting, destroying shop facades, overturning handcarts.

Following fracas between groups of both religious denominations, the police resorted to lathi charge and got the situation under control by late afternoon, clearing the streets of the protestors.

Internet services have been suspended till Thursday evening while prohibitory orders have been issued till June 19 banning assembly of five or more persons, said a senior police official.