For a long time India has been in the business of
rechristening and it is surprising as why renaming of Aurangzeb road in the
capital city has created such an unprecedented debate. To enliven the
controversy Indian liberals are now busy digging and excavating the historical
contributions of the despotic Muslim ruler Aurangzeb. In a gross reflection of
political derangement, liberals have quipped back at the government for
imposing its Hindutva agenda. Surprisingly the self-professed elitists who
hardly raise a protest contesting anything pertaining to Muslims were irked by
the proposal of renaming the road with that of another Muslim which should have
been otherwise acceptable. Intriguingly, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, popular as
People’s President, an epitome of liberalism doesn’t qualify the standards set
by the Indian liberals. The Veena-playing, a syncretic South Indian Muslim
whose spectrum of religious understanding spans different ideologies is not venerated
by Indian Muslim groups even. The missile man whose spiritual ascendancy is
beyond narrow confines of religion couldn’t solicit approval of overwhelmingly
Liberal Indian attitudes. The screwed bench marks and standards set by these
elite intellectuals unfortunately still rule the roost of the Indian society.
Time and again these kinds of incidents glaringly expose the dubious political
standards of Indian system.
Political masters and their stooges in the meanwhile are busy
strategically preparing a masterly tirade trying to project the benevolent characteristics
of the Mughal ruler. Desperate leaders evoked the ruling citing legislation of
1975 that bars rechristening and questioned the cogency of the proposal. But
the double standards and devious explanations were conspicuously silent when
Connaught Circus and Connaught place have been rechristened as Indira Chowk and
Rajiv Chowk ignoring the statutes of legislations.
Contending the arguments that remarked Aurangzeb as a bad and
fanatic Muslim ruler historians fondly recapitulated days when British named
streets, junctions, parks and squares in the newly constructed Delhi after
several Indian rulers and eminent English men without exercising any bias.
These people opined that broad-minded British irrespective of region, religion
have tried to represent the legendary personalities who made an impact on India
history. They supported their stance that Indian rulers were duly accorded
recognition irrespective of their benevolent or evil acts. Further they argued
that history shouldn’t be judged or assessed. Despite these bonafide
explanations, the saga of renaming continues to enamour Indians- Bombay is now
Mumbai, similarly Calcutta of yesteryears is Kolkata, Madras is now Chennai and
the list goes on.
Interestingly the decision taken by the New Delhi Municipal
Corporation (NDMC) is truly phenomenal for the decision was unanimously agreed
by the rival parties AAP and BJP. Interestingly, before each of these parties
could claim the honours the matter has roiled into a deep trouble. While it is
true that no leader or the ruler might truly be benevolent and acceptable to
all sections of the society, it would be in best of interest to move ahead and
honour the people who set a new precedent in our country. Change is the order of the day and with
changing times the idols and heroes who can cast long lasting impact with their
feats do change. Indian elite who look forward to West to draw parallels should
now emulate their spirit of accepting change. President Obama during his visit
to Alaska renamed North America’s tallest mountain peak Mc Kinley back to
Denali the original name given by native Alaskans.
Historians have criticized that renaming of Aurangzeb is like
opening a can of worms and have come down heavily for attempting to erase
history. But in fact idolising contemporary stalwarts, legendary intellectuals and paying rich tributes can
indeed encourage Indian youth to strive towards an inspired way of living. It
is time politicians stop visualising everything through religious prism and
cultivate a spirit of pragmatism. While the gigantic procedural inconvenience
incumbent upon the change of metros was gracefully embraced renaming of single
street housing rich and mighty causes little trouble and can be easily accepted.
For all the hue and cry that ensued after the renaming an
interesting statistics revealed that the name of the despised ruler continues
to live on with as many as 177 villages, towns and cities carrying his name. Critics
have opined that India might as well build more roads, religious centres,
research organisations etc to pay tributes to illustrious Indians. The real
reason for condemnation truly stems from the fact that the NDA government
backed the candidacy of Dr. Kalam to the highest post of President of India.
Dr. Kalam has thus been painted as the zealot of Hindutva and consequently his
immortalization draws ire from (un)expected corners of the society. Marginalisation
of the prodigal personalities in India has thus far been dictated by the whims
and fancies of the legendary dynasties in India and the media groups working
for them. This issue once again reinforces the phenomenon of selective
ennoblement of illustrious leaders/personalities.
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