Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abu Azmi on Wednesday defended his controversial remarks on Mughal emperor Aurangzeb soon after the Maharashtra Assembly decided to suspend him for the entire Budget Session. Azmi defended his statement and said he did not say anything wrong, while having Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's portrait in the background. Earlier, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday suspended Azmi for the entire duration of the ongoing Budget Session.
I spoke about withdrawing my statement, says Abu Azmi
Suspended Maharashtra SP MLA Abu Azmi said, "To ensure that the House functions, I spoke about withdrawing my statement. I did not say anything wrong. Still, there is a controversy, and proceedings of the House are being stalled. To ensure that the House functions and some work is done during the Budget Session, I withdrew the statement that I made outside the Assembly, not in the House. Still, I have been suspended."
Earlier, on Tuesday, Azmi clarified that his words had been misinterpreted. "My words have been twisted. I have said what historians and writers have said about Aurangzeb Rahmatullah Ali. I have not made any derogatory remark about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Maharaj or any other great men – but still, if anyone has been hurt by my statement, then I take back my words, my statement," SP MLA said in a video.
"This issue is being made a political issue, and I think that closing the Budget Session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly because of this is causing harm to the people of Maharashtra," he added.
What did Abu Azmi say?
Abu Azmi triggered a row while addressing reporters in Mumbai at the start of the Maharashtra Assembly session. He said, "Aurangzeb got several temples built. In Varanasi, he saved a Hindu girl from a priest who had an evil eye on her. He had the priest trampled by elephants," Abu Azmi had claimed.
He had further stated, "I don't consider Aurangzeb a cruel ruler. During that era, power struggles were political, not religious. Aurangzeb's army had many Hindus, just as Chhatrapati Shivaji's army had several Muslims."
A zero FIR was registered against Azmi in the Naupada Police Station of Thane and was transferred to the Marine Drive police station in Mumbai in this connection. The FIR was lodged based on a complaint lodged by Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske.