Vice chairman of NDMC Karan Singh Tanwar also confirmed that the decision was taken in a meeting on Friday. "Aurangzeb was a tyrant. That's why an unanimous decision was taken to rename the road as APJ Abdul Kalam road who rose to become the President of India," Tanwar told dna.
The sixth Mughal emperor of India and a prominent character of Indian history, Aurangzeb, has been expelled from the capital. Literally. Riding on popular demands, especially right-wing groups' sentiments, which had gained enormous proportions in the last many months, the New Delhi Municipal Council on Friday renamed the historic Aurangzeb Road –located in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi–to APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
One of the most expensive and prime locations of New Delhi, the lush green Aurangzeb road is home to several VIPs and is known for its heritage buildings such as Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah's bungalow which serves as the Dutch embassy now. The NDMC's decision to rename the road was also seconded by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who tweeted about on Friday. "Congrats. NDMC jst now decided to rename Aurangzeb Road to APJ Abdul Kalam Road," he wrote on the micro-blogging site. Kejriwal is also the presiding officer of NDMC, which has a BJP majority. The union government is now slated to give a final approval to the decision.
Vice chairman of NDMC Karan Singh Tanwar also confirmed that the decision was taken in a meeting on Friday. "Aurangzeb was a tyrant. That's why an unanimous decision was taken to rename the road as APJ Abdul Kalam road who rose to become the President of India," Tanwar told dna.
In July, BJP Lok Sabha MP of east Delhi Mahesh Girri had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Aurangzeb Road in central Delhl be renamed after former President APJ Abdul Kalam who passed away recently.
"This will be a great way of preserving Dr Kalam's memories and legacy forever," he had said.
The decision, however, didn't go down well with the city's historians, who criticised, it calling it a 'cheap trick'.
Activist Sohail Hashmi said the decision speaks on the authorities' short-sightedness. "On one hand, you talk of preserving heritage, but on the other, you change names of roads, by which you are erasing a part of the country's history. If someone has to be commemorated, you should do it in some other way instead of changing something that is pre-existing," he said.
Hashmi further explained that the 'tyrant and cruel' picture of Aurangzeb was painted by the erstwhile British historians after 1857 to create communal tension between the Hindus and the Muslims. "But people are not bothered about history. This is idiotic politics," an angry Hashmi said.
Abul Muzaffar Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb has ruled a huge part of unified India between 1658 and 1707 before a slow disintegration started setting into the enormous Mughal empire.
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