BJP’s Renaming Spree: Erasing the Muslim Heritage
Mughal dynasty left a conspicuous mark on Indian art, culture, architecture, language, and cuisine; shaping Indian history and continuing to influence its politics until today. It would be imprudent to think that stripping away traces of their existence would be ample to get rid of a major part of history. But yet again history is becoming a victim of Hindutva's vicious politics.
With BJP in power, a long-desired campaign to restore India’s ancient identity is underway, by swapping names that reflect Muslim heritage on Indian soil with Hindutva's predecessors and ancient Hindu names.
In August 2015, Chief Minister Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal announced the decision of renaming Dehli’s famous Aurangzeb Road, to APJ Abdul Kalam Road; a tribute to the late ex-president of India, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. According to BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, the government had received several proposals to change the name of Aurangzeb Road since 2014, arguing that the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was an invader and a cruel ruler, who does not deserve to be commemorated in any way.
But the problem is not just the cruel emperor Aurangzeb, it was and will always be about Muslims. In May 2015, many street signs in New Delhi (the capital of India) having Urdu/Muslim names were painted black by Shiv Sena Hindustan, including the Aurangzeb Road. Last year (2021) Hindu Sena vandalized a signboard of Akbar Road, Delhi, and declared the road as “Samrat Hemu Vikramaditya Marg” by pasting posters on it. Similar cases have been reported in past years only to urge the government to remove Muslim-named signboards.
The Hindutva ideologues consider the entire medieval Muslim era, as a dark phase in the country’s history and all Muslims as invaders and foreigners therefore any remains of Mughal rule in Indian true national heritage are unacceptable. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a joint session of the Parliament while referring to both the British and the Mughal rule in India said:
“The slave mentality of 1,200 years is troubling us. Often, when we meet a person of high stature, we fail to muster strength to speak up.”
The biggest wins for the BJP anti-Muslim narrative was in Uttar Pradesh, considered to be the heartland of India because of its great significance in both Indian politics (Uttar Pradesh elects the maximum number of members to both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) and the Hindu religion. BJP’s one of the most vocal members Yogi Adityanath, notorious for his anti-Muslim venom was appointed as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
“No one can beat the BJP in propaganda. The party spent 6.5bn rupees [$85m; £65m] on publicising Mr Adityanath’s achievements even though lots of projects remain on paper Hindutva [hardline Hindu nationalism] is his (Yogi Adityanath) major selling point. For his diehard supporters, it’s not important what Yogi Adityanath does for them, but what he does against Muslims — the people they look at with suspicion. And it’s that argument that has won.”
Sharat Pradhan, a veteran Journalist and Author
In a short span of time, Yogi proved his potential as a true Hindutva ideologue by targeting Islamic references throughout the state. In 2018 he renamed the Mughalsarai city, “Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar” along with the iconic British-era Mughalsarai railway junction. This station was built by East Indian Railways, the British railway company, for connecting Calcutta to Delhi, known as the gateway to East India after 156 years this iconic station officially lost its true identity and was renamed as “Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay junction”, honoring RSS ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
Pankaj Sharma, a member of the BJP in Mughalsarai, called this decision a “victory for Hindus” and further stated:
“Mughalsarai is a Muslim name. Mughals were Muslim rulers and they killed so many people in India — why should any place be named after them? I am glad that the name of the station is changing.”
Professor Pradeep Kumar of the BHU’s law department while talking to BBC said the government knew the benefits they would get from the decision.
“I am in no doubt that it’s a political decision. And when it changes a Muslim name like Mughalsarai, it definitely stands a chance to gain the votes of Hindus sympathetic to its cause in the upcoming general elections next year.”
In October 2018 Allahabad, another city of Uttar Pradesh was renamed “Prayagraj”; which as per BJP claims is the “real name” of the city and was changed by the Mughal emperor Akbar, so it is not a political move but only an effort to “correct history”.
However, according to the former vice-chancellor of Allahabad University Professor NR Farooqui, there are several historical documents and books that prove that Prayagraj was never a sprawling city. During British rule and even for ease of pronunciation, the name Ilahabas was modified to “Allahabad”.
“Prayag, also mentioned as “Jhunsi Prayag” in some books, was a well-known pilgrimage destination. The place has been mentioned in several Hindu scriptures as well. But it was never a city, Akbar laid the foundation of a new city in 1574 and named it Ilahabas. He built a massive fort and used it as an administrative and military center to rule northern India.”
Similarly, in November 2018, the district Faizabad was renamed “Ayodhya”. In 2019 Hazratganj Chauraha in Lucknow was renamed “Atal Chowk” to honor former PM of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
A Mughal Museum in Agra was renamed after Maratha icon Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Agra airport after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Airport, and a number of others are renamed so far and there are still proposals from RSS and BJP in the pipeline.
“In your new Uttar Pradesh, there is no space for the symbols of “the mentality of slavery”. Shivaji Maharaj is our hero. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!”
“We cannot let Muslim invaders from centuries ago define us today!” ( CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath)
Earlier in 2021 BJP, MLA from Uttar Pradesh, Surendra Singh claimed that Agra’s historical monument Taj Mahal will soon be renamed ‘Ram Mahal’ as the Taj Mahal was the temple of Lord Shiva before it was deconstructed to build this famous tomb by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. BJP Councillor Shobharam Rathore prepared a proposal for renaming the Taj Mahal as Tejo Mahalaya.
With Yogi’s win in the 2022 State Assembly elections, returned to be the Chief Minister of UP, he became the first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to retain power and the third to complete a 5-year term in office. There are people who see him as the next Prime Minister of India not because of his administrative qualities but because of the way he succeeded in polarising voters along religious lines.
Being a successful Hindutva ideologue yogi’s contribution to Hindutva cannot be denied but looking at his poor management in the state clearly reveals where BJP and its supporter’s priorities lie. When Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state with a population of 200 million (18% Muslims), is in the hands of those who by attacking Muslims could rise in the political hierarchy, What further could we expect from the future of Indian Muslims?
