TLI Staff
New Delhi: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” said Juliet in William Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo & Juliet. This could have been true in 16th century but no longer so now.
This is perhaps the reason, Ministry of Home Affairs has given “No Objection” to rename 52 towns and villages changing many Muslim-sounding names to those rooted in Sanskrit or Hindi. Some of the places have been rechristened on Hindu gods.
For example, Khizrabad in Haryana is now Pratap Nagar and Mahmoodganj in Rajasthan is Mahadevpura. Similarly, Miyon Ka Bara in Rajasthan has been renamed as Mahesh Nagar. The Home Ministry has accorded “No Objection” to proposals received from various states and Union Territories (UTs) across the country.
Accordingly, Bhusuri in Madhya Pradesh is now Durga Nagar. The two villages Shukratal Khadar and Shukratal Bangar in Uttar Pradesh have received clearance for naming them as Shuktirth Khadar and Shuktirth Bangar, respectively.
Some of the bigger towns in Uttar Pradesh such as Allahabad and Faizabad were renamed earlier as Prayagraj and Ayodhya by the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh amid much buzz and noise. The Indian Railways under Modi government has renamed Mughal Sarai railway station as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Railway station on the name of Jan Sangh leader and ruling BJP’s ideologue.
“During the period from 01st January, 2017 to 28th February, 2020, sixty seven proposals for change in the name of city/town/village were received. ‘No objection’ in respect of fifty-two proposals have been issued to the State Government/Union Territory concerned. Fourteen proposals for change of name of city/town/village are currently under consideration and one proposal was not agreed to,” Home Ministry led by Amit Shah said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on March 4.
A proposal to change West Bengal’s name to “Bangla” is currently pending with the central government.
“The proposal for change in the name of only one State namely, West Bengal to “Bangla” was received. Change in the name of a State requires constitutional amendment, after taking into consideration all relevant factors,” the Home Ministry said replying to a question from Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’brien.
The BJP government has come under fire for dividing the society on religious lines and fanning communal sentiments. The attack has been sharp following Delhi riots last month in which 53 people lost their lives and hundreds got injured besides loss of property.
The enactment of controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) triggered countrywide protests with many Muslim leaders claiming that the law discriminates on the basis of religion and hence Unconstitutional.