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Editor’s Note

What’s in a name? Renaming spree

as politics takes over the ground

“WHAT’S IN A NAME? That which we history and disregard for our plural identity. The year
call a rose by any other name would 2019 when the country goes in for general elections
smell as sweet.” The present politi- is just around the corner and it will be the time of
cal dispensation does not seem to reckoning.
agree with William Shakespeare’s Changing names of cities and roads that assert-
observations in Romeo and Juliet. ed British imperial was okay Cawnpore becoming
A few weeks ago, the UP Cabinet Kanpur was a welcome move, but what is being done
approved the proposal to rename today is different. It is stepping out of the secular frame.
Allahabad as Prayagraj. The Chief Minister, What should matter to us most today is the astonish-
Yogi Adityanath defended the name change as the ing survival of India as a secular state. We are not a
undoing of the “wrong” committed by Mughal emperor monochromatic nation but a secular democracy.
Akbar in 1575. We should, in fact, make further efforts to protect
Earlier, the name of the historic Mughalsarai and strength the secularism of which we people and
railway station, among busiest railway junctions, India as a nation feel proud. There is a need to foster
was changed as Deen Dyal Upadhyay junction. As a individual liberties.
Diwali gift, Faizabad was renamed Sri Ayodhya. A Similarly, the government should do well
medical college to be set up at Ayodhya would be to drop its plans to ban meat and liquor in
named after king Dashrath, father of Lord Rama. While Ayodhya district. Criminalizing or changing dietary
making the announcement, the chief minister said that habits of people is not the job of a progressive nation.
“Ayodhya is a symbol of our ‘aan, baan aur shaan’ or Such moves only aggravate schism and divide between
honour, pride and prestige. communities and are undemocratic. There seems
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel has said the to be no other justification than the prejudice in these
State government was willing to rename Ahmedabad moves, which only undermine our stature in the
as Karnavati. So Ahmedabad could be renamed as world. It is not an attempt to restore the glory of the
Karnavati, Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar Aurangabad Indian past, but a retrograde step.
as Sambhaji Nagar while Taj can be trivalised. The
Haryana government has already renamed Gurgaon
as Gurugram. Going through the atlas to identify
cities and changing their names would serve no pur-
pose as such moves only reflect a jaundiced view of (CHARANJIT AHUJA)

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