The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Sunil Ambekar on Wednesday said that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was “not relevant” today, ANI reported.

Ambekar, the Hindutva organisation’s national publicity chief, made the comment in response to a reporter’s question about the clashes that broke out in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Monday night and if the Aurangzeb’s tomb should be moved.

The violence took place hours after Hindutva groups held a protest in the city demanding that Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar be removed.

“Any type of violence is not good for the society and I think police have taken cognisance of it and so they will get into the details,” Ambekar said at a press conference in Bengaluru.

However, Ambekar told The Times of India that the “glorification of Aurangzeb should stop”.

“The tomb issue is not irrelevant, Aurangzeb is,” the newspaper quoted him as having clarified.

The RSS is the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The violence erupted on Monday in central Nagpur’s Chitnis Park at 7.30 pm. Stones were thrown at the police amid rumours that a cloth with the Islamic declaration of faith, known as the Kalma, had been burnt during an agitation by a Hindutva group in the late afternoon.

Unidentified office-bearers of the Bajrang Dal were quoted as saying by The Indian Express that its members had only burnt an effigy of Aurangzeb during the protest.

Another clash erupted in Hansapuri, an area close to Chitnis Park, between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm, according to reports. The violence also spread to Kotwali and Ganeshpeth areas.

The police fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge to disperse the mob in the Chitnis Park area.

Several bikes and cars were set on fire on Monday night.

After the violence, prohibitory orders barring public gatherings were imposed within the limits of 11 police stations of Nagpur. The orders were in place on Thursday as well.

The violence came amid Hindutva groups, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, in recent weeks stepping up their campaign to demand the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, claiming that the structure is a “symbol of pain and slavery”. The two groups held protests in several cities of Maharashtra on Monday.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal are part of a group of Hindutva organisations led by the RSS.

Ministers should practice restrain: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday asked his ministerial colleagues to practice restraint and ensure that their statements do not spark animosity in society.

“Sometimes young ministers make some remarks,” the BJP leader said. “I have a conversation with them on such occasions, and tell them that you are a minister and need to exercise control.”

Fadnavis was responding to a question by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Jayant Patil at the 2025 Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Award event about ministers making remarks “against a particular community”.

“We have a certain role to play as a minister,” Fadnavis added. “[Former Prime Minister] Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once mentioned this somewhere, that as a minister, we have to follow Raj Dharma [ruler’s duty]. So, we have to set aside our individual opinions, likes and dislikes. We have taken the oath of the Constitution, and the Constitution has placed on us the responsibility of not doing injustice to any person.”

On March 10, Fadnavis had backed the demand by Hindutva groups to remove Aurangzeb’s tomb but said that the action would have to be carried out within the ambit of the law as the site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

On Monday, Fadnavis said that the government was obligated to protect the tomb, which is a protected site, but it will not allow attempts to glorify Aurangzeb’s legacy. The preservation of the site is a matter of historical record rather than reverence, the chief minister said.