India: renaming cities, erasing the past

India’s city names represent the country’s eventful history. The nationalist government particularly disapproves of names that go back to the rule of Muslims in the Middle Ages. She wants to change that.

It is the central square of Delhi: a ring of colonnades with many shops – the economic and financial center of the Indian capital, with the most expensive shop rents. Actually, the square has been called “Rajiv Chowk” since 2013, named after the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. But most of them only know one name: “Connaught Place” or just CP, named after the Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria’s third son.

And that was exactly one of the reasons that streets, squares and entire cities were renamed in India for a long time: they wanted to shake off the colonial legacy. Calcutta became Kolkata, Madras became Chennai, Bangalore became Bengaluru.

But if a place is to be renamed these days, it is usually not about the British, says sociologist Hilal Ahmed. He refers to the book by a well-known scientist, in which it is said that Muslim rule was more dangerous than British, which is more accepted: “The rule of the Muslims is seen as a break in the history of India,” says Ahmed. “And if you remove this past, everything will be seamless and smooth.”

“Pride and Tradition”

Erasing Muslim history from place names – that is actually a goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalists. Allahabad was renamed Prayagraj three years ago. The Prime Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, where this metropolis is located, commented on this at the time. Yogi Adityanath, a representative of Modi’s BJP party, said at the time that names have a meaning and that city names are always “associated with pride and our tradition.”

The bookseller Ram Naresh thinks the renaming is correct. Prayagraj is the city of saints and gurus. The holy river Ganges flows there, the city is a Hindu pilgrimage site. The name sounds good.

Other cities are to follow

The BJP party has other cities on its wish list – including Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located, and Hyderabad. It is accused of a policy that marginalizes religious minorities: above all the Muslims of India, 170 million people. And this exclusion also happens through the renaming, says Professor Ahmed: “It is also about rewriting history. And that includes erasing medieval India. Because in their version of history, this time is equated with Muslim dominance. “

But this policy is not bearing fruit as it should, believes the sociologist. The often heated public discussions about name changes prove him right: Modi’s Hindu nationalists wanted to divide India. But they do not succeed.

Whether you change city names or not, people would still live in peaceful coexistence. Here, according to Ahmed, the Hindu nationalist ideology failed: “Despite this polarization, they have not succeeded in convincing the Hindus in this country that India belongs only to them.”