Today, while leaving Marine Drive police station, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi says said he had never spoken any ill words against Sambhaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or any other great men. While addressing the media after his visit to the police station, he said, "Today was the last day. I had to give attendance.
I have never spoken any ill words against Sambhaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or any other great men in the country... But there are people who are making such statements, and it is accessible on mobile phones... Government should take steps to keep such things from spreading."
Earlier, on Tuesday, Azmi has been cautioned by a Mumbai court to exercise restraint during interviews as any “irresponsible” statement by a senior politician like him can spark riots. Additional Sessions Judge V G Raghuwanshi schooled Azmi while granting him anticipatory bail in a case filed against him for his remarks praising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
Noting that Azmi is a politician and businessman and it was improbable that he would run away from the course of justice, the judge said it was a “fit case to exercise discretion” in his favour.
“Before parting with the order I would like to caution the applicant (Azmi) to exercise restraint on himself while giving interviews, having regards to prevailing circumstances. Any irresponsible statement can flare riots and create law and order problems,” the court said.
The case was registered last week against the MLA, who represents the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency in the metropolis, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) over his remarks eulogising the medieval-era Mughal emperor.
He was booked under BNS sections 299 (deliberate and malicious act insulting the religious beliefs of any group of people), 302 (hurting someone’s religious feelings) and 356(2)(defamation).
Azmi, who is also the Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra unit president, had said while talking to the media that during Aurangzeb’s reign, India’s borders reached Afghanistan and Burma (Myanmar). “Our GDP accounted for 24 per cent (of world GDP) and India was called a golden sparrow,” the opposition legislator had claimed.
Asked about the fight between Aurangzeb and Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Azmi had termed it a political battle.
These remarks were made in the backdrop of the blockbuster Hindi film ‘Chhaava’, based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, who was captured by Aurangzeb’s commander in 1689. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and his father, legendary Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, are highly revered figures in Maharashtra.
Suspending him from the Maharashtra assembly over his remarks, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he will be "100 per cent" put in jail.
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, an MLC, too asserted no one should dare speak against national icons and it is the government's responsibility to take strict action against those who make offensive remarks against them. "He (Azmi) should be permanently suspended (from assembly)," Thackeray demanded.