SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has hit out at the BJP for changing the names of cities and towns and said that the move was an attempt to demolish the idea of India.
“Name changing is an attempt to demolish the idea of India we grew up with. It is an assault on the country’s composite Ganga-Jamuni culture. BJP is trying to tell the Muslims that they don’t belong to this place. But be sure it is as much my country like yours. We are just not going anywhere,” Mufti tweeted on Saturday.
Mufti reacted on the micro-blogging site to Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar’s statement where he asked the BJP to change the names of three of their Muslim leaders–Shahnawaz Hussain, Abbas Naqvi, Mohsin Raza — before changing the names of different towns and places in the state.
“Whenever serious issues like the rights of the backward classes are raised, the BJP comes up with such ideas to fool the people,” SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said.
Rajbhar, who is the Minister of the Department of Backward Classes Welfare and the Department of Disabled People Development, also questioned the delay in the division of reservation by the chief minister despite the report of the Other Backward Castes Social Justice Committee.
“By changing the names of districts and cities, will the poor get rich, the marginalised get justice,” Rajbhar asked.
He said that the Muslim rulers had played a significant role in the state and indeed the country, and wondered if people should stop using the GT road or stop visiting the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.
There is a sudden spurt in demands seeking change in the names of various cities after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya and Allahabad as Prayagraj. Recently the name of Mughalsarai Railway Station was renamed as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction. (ANI)
The Uttar Pradesh government recently changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj, and Faizabad to Ayodhya. This is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to consolidate the Hindus ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Source: Times of India
