An exhibition named "Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal records."at the prestigious Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) by journalist Francois Gautier was forced to shut down due to to protest by people affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Manitha Neethi Paasarai and other Muslim organisations.
The Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali also lend his voice to shutdown the show as according to him the paintings amounted to "fabrication and distortion of history". He was particularly enraged by two miniatures -- the first depicted Aurangzeb's army destroying the Somnath temple and the second showed the destruction of the Kesava Rai temple in Mathura.
I am amazed why should these Muslim organizations join issues here? Why are they feeling obliged towards Aurangzeb? It is a well know fact that among many Hindus the name of Aurangzeb evokes the same passionate hatred as do the names of Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad of Ghori. It was Aurangzeb who ordered all temples destroyed, among them the Kashi Vishwanath temple, one of the most sacred places of Hinduism, and had mosques built on a number of cleared temple sites. Other Hindu sacred places within his reach equally suffered destruction, with mosques built on them. A few examples: Krishna's birth temple in Mathura; the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat; the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares; and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya. The number of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in four, if not five figures. Aurangzeb did not stop at destroying temples, their users were also wiped out; even his own brother Dara Shikoh was executed for taking an interest in Hindu religion; Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded because he objected to Aurangzeb's forced conversions.
It is outrageous that someone is supporting a Tyrant like Aurangzeb just because he happens to be a Muslim! If we expend this logic would the same Muslim organizations protest if we hold an exhibition on 1971 War with Pakistan! A further stretch of this logic would make some Christian Organizations to protest any exhibition on British.
It is more outrageous considering the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam(TMMK) is electoral ally of DMK and the "Mother" Secular CPM!
The pictures that caused the protest:
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