Left to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath he would prefer to call former US President Barack Obama as Sudhama, a friend of a Hindu deity Krishna; actor Amir Khan as Amar Khanna, a common Hindu name; young wizard Harry Potter as Hari Putar, a name with a mix of Hindi and Punjabi; Ian Flemming’s James Bond as Jhandu Balm, a brand name for a balm; singer Michael Jackson as Mai Kaa Lal Jaikishan; Russian President Putin as Puneet Mishra; politician Asaduddin Owaisi as Awasthi and actress Emma Watson as Amma Vatsal.
Social media has gone viral ridiculing Adityanath for his name changing spree which goes something like this: James Bond calls the Chief Minister: Yogi, jee I am Amir Khan speaking to which Yogi responds: ‘From now on you will be named Amar Khanna’. Tied to the hashtag #AajSeTumharaNaam, internet users came out on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp with images of Yogi Adityanath on the phone with celebrities as he gives them new names.
However on a serious note, the Chief Minister is keen on changing names of cities and towns in the state that he administers. He recently named Faizabad as Ayodhya and Allahabad as Prayagraj: ‘Ayodhya’ the Chief Minister has said, ‘is a symbol of our ‘aan, baan aur shaan‘ (honour, pride and prestige)’ adding that no one can do injustice to Ayodhya. I want to make sure that Lord Ram’s legacy lives forever,’
Faizabad is a district in Uttar Pradesh that consists of twin towns of Faizabad and Ayodhya on the banks of the river Saryu. The Chief Minister also announced a new hospital and a new airport for the district which reportedly, will be named after Lord Ram, and his father King Dashrath.
Earlier, the government had renamed Mughalsarai Railway Station, another historic place, as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction. This was done to bring in the legacy of the Jan Sangh leader centre-stage.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was an active worker for the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is considered as the foremost architect of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner to the BJP.
The decision to change the name of Allahabad has been challenged in court and the matter has been slated for hearing. Allahabad was christened as ‘Illahabad’ by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1575 meaning abode of God.
In October last year, the Yogi government renamed Mughalsarai railway station to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) station in an attempt to highlight the legacy of the Jan Sangh leader.
Earlier this month, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the ”Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium” in the capital city of Lucknow, which was earlier called the “Ekana International Cricket Stadium. Even the crossing that was known as Hazratganj Chauraha was renamed as Atal Chowk recently.
Yogi Adityanath had earlier said that if necessary he would not hesitate to change the name of Taj Mahal and call it Ram Mahal. He had also proposed that Article 1 of the Constitution be amended to replace the word ‘India’ with ‘Hindustan’.
During his tenure as MP of Gorakhpur, since 1998, many places of the city are replaced -- Urdu Bazar as Hindi Bazar, Ali Nagar as Arya Nagar, Miya Bazar as Maya Bazar, Islampur as Ishwarpur, Lahaladpur as Alahaladpur and Humayun Nagar as Hanuman Nagar though most of these were vocal assertions and the places are registered under their old names.
Even while he is being attacked for diverting attention from key issues of development, Yogi Adityanath had made it clear that names would change even before he was named Chief Minister: ‘Abhi to aur naam badalna hai’have to change more names he had then said in an television interview.
While name changing is a pointless exercise, a matter of concern is that the new names emphasize on Hinduism over Islam since many of these names were a throwback from the Muslim era. In this Yogi Adityanath is not alone. Even the Central government led by the BJP has changed many names in India’s capital city New Delhi. For instance the Millennium city Gurgaon which is adjoining the national capital was renamed Gurugram, or the abode of Gods.
"Haryana is a historic land of the Bhagwad Gita, and Gurgaon had been a centre of learning. It had been known as Gurgaon since the times of Guru Dronacharya. Gurgaon was a great centre of education where the princes used to be provided education," an official said while justifying the change.
Gurgaon is known both nationally and globally as an industrial, information technology, software and corporate hub. The offices of several multinational corporations (MNCs) and leading Indian companies are located there.
Delhi’s Aurangzeb Road was renamed A.P.J.Abdul Kalam road. According to a BJP MP,“Whenever we remember (Mughal emperor) Aurangzeb, we think about cruelty and torture. We do not want to be reminded of that. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on the other hand, is known for his love for the nation, his loyalty to the country, his generosity and kindness. We need to correct the mistakes made in our history.”
Governments in the past have also changed names of several roads and cities particularly those that were a throwback on the British rule. For instance Cornwallis Road was named Subramania Bharti Marg after the after the twentieth century Tamil poet; King George’s Avenue to Rajaji Marg after Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, India’s governor general; Ratendone Rod to Amrita Shergill Marg, the celebrated painter. Then there was Clive Road now renamed Thyagaraja Marg after the Carnatic music composer; Curzon Road to Kastruba Gandhi Marg, Mahatma Gandhi’s wife and Havelock Road to Kali Bari Marg, after the goddess.
Therefore to single out the BJP may be unfair except on two counts: that the name changing spree seems to be an obsession with the Yogi government, and more importantly it is an attempt to impose Hinduism over Islam. When past governments did it, it was to erase the British legacy that was purely an Indian sentiment but when the BJP does it, it has a communal angle. It is therefore not without reason that one of Yogi Adityanath’s own minister attacked him: An ally partner, Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is a minister in the state government said that the saffron party should start with changing the names of prominent Muslim faces in the party: ‘The BJP changed names of Mughalsarai and Faizabad. They say they were named after the Mughals. They have national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza - three Muslim faces of the BJP. They should change their names first,’ to quote him.
This was enough ammunition for the Samajwadi party to train their guns at the state government saying that Rajbhar is a mass leader and ‘he knows that the present government is only indulging in politics of name change. This government has no development agenda. We must preserve our history. I want to ask the government are they going to demolish the GT road and Red Fort now?"
But the BJP is unfazed and as one of them said that the critics must never forget that the Mughals distorted our culture.
The name game is on and as for the UP government is concerned it is pursuing it as its main agenda and if Yogi Adityanath’s explanation is anything to go by wherein he has said that majority of names in India were related to Lord Ram and were important in our culture and society, then the game seems to have just begun.
The writer is a senior Indian journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])