PIL In SC To Constitute Commission To Find Original Names Of Historical Places Named After 'Barbaric Foreign Invaders'

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court to constitute a "Renaming Commission" to find out the original names of Ancient Historical, Cultural and Religious Places named after "Barbaric Foreign Invaders" in order to maintain sovereignty and to secure the right to dignity, right to religion, and right to culture.

The PIL filed by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay through the Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey states, “We are celebrating the 75th anniversary of independence but there are many ancient historical cultural religious places in the name of brutal foreign invaders, their servants and family members. Invaders not only renamed the general places but also changed the names of ancient historical cultural religious places, and their continuation after 75 years of Independence is against sovereignty, right to dignity, right to religion and right to culture guaranteed under Articles 21, 25 and 29.”

The petitioner has sought direction from the Apex Court to the Home Ministry to constitute a "Renaming Commission" as well as the Archaeological Survey of India to research and publish the initial names of the ancient historical cultural religious places.

It has been pointed out in the petition that, “The Cause of Action accrued on 29.1.2023, when Mughal Garden was renamed as Amrit Garden but government did nothing to rename the roads named after invaders like Babur Road, Humayun Road, Akbar Road, Jahangir Road, Shahjahan Road, Bahadur Shah Road, Sher Shah Road, Aurangzeb Road, Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road, Najaf Khan Road, Jauhar Road, Lodhi Road, Chelmsford Road and Hailey Road etc. It is necessary to state that the Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians and the Hon’ble Judges, who are custodian of the Constitution of India and protector of fundamental rights have the bungalow on these roads.”

The petitioner further submitted that Pandavas with the blessings of Lord Krishna and Balram, converted Khandavaprastha (deserted land) into Indraprastha (Delhi) but there is not even one Road, Municipal Ward, Village, or Assembly Constituency in the name of Lord Krishna, Balram, Yudhishthira, Bheema, Arjun, Nakul, Sehdev, Kunti, Draupadi, and Abhimanyu.

“… historical 'Ajatshatru Nagar' was named after the barbaric "Begu” and called 'Begusarai'. Ancient city 'Nalanda Vihar' was named after Conversion Missionary 'Sharifuddin Ahmed' and called 'Bihar Sharif'. Cultural city 'Dwar Banga' was named after the cruel 'Darbhang Khan' and called 'Darbhanga'. Religious city 'Haripur' was named after the vicious 'Haji Shamsuddin Shah' and called 'Hajipur'. 'Singhjani' was named after conversion missionary 'Jamal Baba' and called 'Jamalpur'. Vedic city 'Videhpur' was named after the barbarous Muzaffar Khan and called 'Muzaffarpur'. Likewise historical city 'Karnawati' was named after Ahmad Shah and called 'Ahmedabad'”, the petitioner has pleaded.

It has also been contended by the petitioner that the historical city 'Bhragnapur' was named after barbarous Sheikh Burhan-ud-din and called 'Burhanpur' and in a similar manner, the religious city 'Narmada Puram' was named after brutal Hoshang Shah and called 'Hoshangabad'.

“It is necessary to state that cruel Hoshang Shah attacked the city with hundreds of horsemen, elephant riders and a massive army and after the battle, thousands of Hindu women gave their lives to avoid rapes. … The Ancient city “Mokalhar” was named after Conversion Missionary Baba Farid and called Faridkot. Vedic City 'Virat' was named after cruel Hoshiar Khan and called Hoshiarpur”, the petition says.

The petitioner argued that the Right to Dignity includes the Dignity of Society and that the Government is competent to correct the historic wrong while relying upon some cases such as AADHAAR Case [K.S Puttaswamy [2017 (10) SCC 1], Maneka Gandhi Vs. Union of India [AIR 1978 SC 597], M Siddiq & Others v. Mahant Suresh Das & Others [(2019) 4 SCC 641], K. C. Gajapati Narayan Deo v. The State of Orissa, 1953 AIR 375, etc.

The following were the questions of law framed by the petitioner –

1. Whether continuing the names of ancient historical cultural religious places, in the names of barbaric invaders against sovereignty?

2. Whether Centre and States are obligated to change the names of ancient historical cultural religious places to their original name?

The petitioner in the above context urged, “… direct the Home Ministry to constitute a “Renaming Commission” to find out original names of ‘ancient historical cultural religious places’, named after barbaric foreign invaders in order to maintain Sovereignty and to secure ‘Right to Dignity, Right to Religion and Right to Culture’ guaranteed under Articles 21, 25 and 29 of the Constitution … alternatively, direct the Archaeological Survey of India to research and publish the initial names of ancient historical cultural religious places, which were renamed by barbaric foreign invaders, in order to secure ‘Right to Know’ guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution.”

It has also been prayed in the petition to direct the Centre and State Governments to update their websites and records and mention the original names of ancient historical cultural religious places, named after the barbaric foreign invaders.