Page 49 - 30NOV2018E

HERITAGE

What fate awaits the Mughal Gardens in
the Rashtrapati Bhavan!
♦ ♦ ♦
Name changing disasters have
already begun in the States of Uttar
Pradesh and Rajasthan and Maharashtra
What, with Uttar Pradesh’s chief minis-
ter, Yogi Adityanath, changing the name
of Allahabad to Prayagraj and coming
up with several more names on his ever
expanding wish list. And Yogi Adityanath
government’s hatred for the Mughals
and their monumental wonders gets
writ large by this one telling fact — The
annual budget for 2017-2018 made no
mention of Taj Mahal in the section
‘Hamari Sanskritik Virasat’ (Our Cultural
Heritage) incorporated in the finance
minister’s 63-page speech. This aversion
for the upkeep of the Taj Mahal when its
one of the seven wonders of the world -
UNESCO world heritage site that draws ‘Daulat Khana’ and this name continued
thousands of tourists and earns crores in Efforts are on to till, of course, Right-Wing government
terms of revenue for the government. rename Shimla changed it!
Also, on several occasions Yogi Adi- Maharashtra government has almost
tyanath publicly commented that the as Shyamala! After defaced the names of Muslim rulers
Taj Mahal, built by the Mughal Emperor this name change, from its history books. This, when the
Shah Jahan, did not reflect India’s ancient Mughal legacy holds much relevance in
culture. Also, in his speeches he made will residents of the very history of India. Can we delete
it amply clear that no replicas of the Taj this hill station these historical facts: In the third battle
Mahal will be given to the foreign dig- of Panipat, where the Marathas were de-
nitaries visiting Uttar Pradesh , instead get better civic feated by the Durani Empire of Afghani-
copies of the Hindu scriptures. stan, the Marathas sided with Shah Alam
And the Rajasthan government’s dis- amenities or get II (Shah Alam II was only a puppet under
like for the Mughal rulers gets writ large adequate water the Marathas) and then led an army to
from the fact that students in Rajasthan punish the Afghans for their atrocities
are taught twisted and wrong versions supply! in 1772. They sacked fort of Pathargarh
of historical facts: Rajput king Maharana and forced the Rohilla Afghans to pay
Pratap defeated the army of Mughal em- a huge war indemnity…The revisions
peror Akbar in the Battle of Haldighati and renamed the well-known Ajmer of the Maharashtra text books omit the
some 450 years ago! This is factually and Fort — from Akbar Ka Qila to ‘Ajmer ka Delhi Sultanate and the Suri Empire in
historically incorrect. Historians point Qila and Sangrahalaya’. India, without which most of modern
out that historical evidence shows that Nah, no expert committee of histori- Indian history would be in complete,
Maharana Pratap, ruler of the Mewar re- ans and academics was involved in the fraught with gaps or omissions, particu-
gion, had fled the battlefield, although in decision. Just by the order of Rajasthan larly when they form a crucial part of its
the later years he continued his guerilla education minister, Vasudev Devnani, social, political economic and educa-
war against the Mughals. name of a historical monument stood tional culture. Without a discussion on
In fact, Rajasthan government’s ha- changed. This fort, built by Emperor the Bijapur Sultanate, Aurangzeb’s rise
tred for the Mughals can be also judged Akbar in 1570,was left untouched even to power over other contenders to the
from the fact that last year not just the when the Rathors, Marathas and the throne and the invasion by Ahmed Shah
suffix ‘Great’ was dropped from the name British ruled the state. The original name Durani, simply cannot be studied or put
of the Mughal emperor Akbar from text of the Ajmer Fort was legally sanctioned in the historical context.
books in the state of Rajasthan but the by a Gazette notification in December,
Rajasthan government has gone ahead 1968. It was named ‘Akbar ka Qila’ or letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 november 2018 49 www.Tehelka.com

48-49 Opinion Humra.indd 3 02/11/18 11:37 AM