Ranjan Chakraborty's comments on Aurangzeb :

“Aurangzeb is an imaginary enemy in the medieval period, just as Gandhi is in the modern period. Both are ‘secular’ — Aurangzeb is ‘negatively secular’ because he wants to suppress religion, whatever it may be, through state repression, while Gandhi is ‘positively secular’ because he wants to reconcile all religions in the non-violent practice of politics.”

— Ranjan Chakraborty

Read this Quote in Bengali

Know Source and Context of this Quote :

‘Historical Truth versus Mass Madness Fiction’

Ranjan Chakraborty, ‘Ei Soimoy’ newspaper

11 Chaitra 1421 Tuesday,

25 March 2025

Ranjan Chakraborty is the Research Director of Swami Vivekananda University.

After the release of the movie ‘Chhawa’, some Hindutva organizations started a movement to demolish Aurangzeb's tomb in Maharashtra. ‘Vishwa Hindu Parishad’ and ‘Bajrang Dal’ are among them. In the wake of this, communal riots in Maharashtra started.

Naturally, a detailed analysis of what Aurangzeb was like as a ruler came up in the discussion. Various Hindutva organizations tried to portray him as a ‘Hindu-hating ruler’ on social media. On the other hand, there is hardly any opposition to this idea.

In this situation, Ranjan Chakraborty, the Research Director of Swami Vivekananda University, has presented a fact-based and logical analysis of Aurangzeb in a reply Editorial Article of the newspaper at this time. This is where he mentioned this comment above.