AIMIM Bihar president & MLA Akhtarul Iman backed Mumbai Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi over his remarks on Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Azmi has been suspended for the entire duration of the ongoing Maharashtra budget session. Iman said that Aurangzeb was a noble emperor and never looted like the British.
"BJP has no other work but to have political gains through politics of hatred...Aurangzeb was a noble emperor. He earned a livelihood by stitching caps. He didn't use taxpayers' money on himself. He was buried here. He didn't loot and leave like the British but he served this country," said AIMIM MLA on the fourth day of the budget session in the Bihar Legislature.
He also refuted claims of Aurangzeb demolishing temples, calling this incorrect. MLA Iman supported the statement of SP MLA Abu Azmi in Maharashtra. "He unified India, stretching from Afghanistan to Burma (Myanmar) and made it 'Akhand Bharat'. He treated both temples and mosques equally. So, why such a controversy is being stoked?...Supreme Court should take suo-motu cognisance of such governments. The action (against Abu Azmi) is unconstitutional"
On March 3, while speaking to the media in the Maharashtra Assembly, Azmi had said, "From what I’ve read about Aurangzeb, he never took public money for himself. His rule extended to Burma (present-day Myanmar), and at that time, the country was known as the golden bird. I think he was a great administrator, and he had many Hindu commanders in his army." Meanwhile, Maharashtra Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi has been suspended for the entire budget session after his praise for Aurangzeb.
Azmi has received support from Samajwadi Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, who criticised the suspension as a violation of freedom of expression.
"If the basis of suspension starts getting influenced by ideology, then what difference will there be between freedom of expression and subjection? Whether it is our MLAs or MPs, their fearless wisdom is unmatched. If some people think that by 'suspension' one can rein them in, then this is the childishness of their negative thinking," Yadav said.