Mistaken identity: Last Mughal’s mural defaced in Ghaziabad

The Hindu Raksha Dal (HRD) claimed responsibility for the incident and police have booked unidentified people in the matter

A group of right-wing activists allegedly defaced a painting of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar which they thought was of another Mughal king Aurangzeb, at Ghaziabad railway station on Friday, officers said.

On the painting being that of Bahadur Shah Zafar, HRD chief Pinki Chaudhary said, “What has been done is done now. We can’t say much. We are also ready to face FIR and legal action.” (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The Hindu Raksha Dal (HRD) claimed responsibility for the incident. Police have booked unidentified people in the matter.

“The group sneaked in among the railway passengers and blackened the painting at platform number 4. By the time we could act, they had defaced the painting with a black spray. In connection with the incident, we have registered a case under sections 147 and 166 of the Railway Act. We have named unidentified persons behind the incident, and they will be identified as part of the investigation,” said SS Gabryal, assistant security commissioner.

The incident, according to railway protection force (RPF) officials, took place around 11am. Several videos of the incident also went viral on social media.

“These were our activists who went to the railway station and defaced the painting,” HRD chief Pinki Chaudhary said. On the painting being that of Zafar, Chaudhary said, “What has been done is done now. We can’t say much. We are also ready to face FIR and legal action.”

Pushpesh Raman Tripathi, divisional railway manager of Delhi Division, northern railways, told news agency ANI – UP/Uttarakhand, “It (the painting) was not of Aurangzeb, it was of Bahadur Shah Zafar...It is not right to deface any public property and action will be taken accordingly.”

Udita Tyagi, the national president of csDishaa foundation, which took up the painting project in 2017, also confirmed that the painting was of Bahadur Shah Zafar and not Aurangzeb.