Rajasthan govt formally renames 3 ‘Islamic-sounding’ villages


Jaipur, Aug 9 (NIE): The Rajasthan government on Thursday formally notified the change of names of three villages, three days after the Union Home Ministry gave clearance to the proposal. From now on Miyon ka Bara village in Barmer district will be known as Mahesh Nagar, Narpada in Jalore district as Narpura and Ismailpur, which falls under Jhunjhunu district, has been renamed as Pichanwa Khurd. The rechristening of the three seemingly ‘Islamic-sounding’ names comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding the renaming of the Mughalsarai railway junction to Deen Dayal Upadhyay junction in Uttar Pradesh.

The Home Ministry had received the proposal from the Vasundhara Raje-led government early this year and after getting an approval from the agencies concerned gave a nod to rename the villages. Even though the government has not given any exact reason for the move, which comes just months ahead of Assembly elections, locals and officials have floated different versions for the decision. The opposition has accused the BJP government of polarising voters and trying to wedge a divide between two communities.

According to sources, the decision was taken after locals in these villages complained of the ‘Muslim-sounding’ names of their villages. For example, Miyon ka Bara, consisting of around 2,000 people, is a Hindu-majority village and only four families belong to the Muslim community. An official reportedly said locals had complained that young people in the village had stopped receiving marriage proposals from other neighbouring villages owing to the ‘Muslim-sounding’ name of the village.

However, BJP MLA from Siwana in Barmer, Hameersingh Bhayal, claimed that the demand to rename Miyon ka Bara was 10 years old and it was renamed Mahesh Nagar due to the presence of a Shiva deity in the village. “It has been named Mahesh Nagar due to the presence of Shiva in the village. Earlier too, this place was referred to as Mahesh Nagar but over a period of time, due to change in dialect and people migrating to the village, everyone started referring to it as Miyon ka Bara,” he said.

Former sarpanch Hanumant Singh has another theory as to how the village came to be called Miyon Ka Bara. “Till Independence, it was Mahesh Bara. But during settlement, the name was changed to Miyon Ka Bara. It has been renamed to Mahesh Nagar now,” he told ANI. The Home Ministry told the Parliament in March that it had received 27 proposals from different states requesting a change of names for various villages, towns and railway stations.

  

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Comment on this article

  • Vincent Rodrigues, Bengaluru/Katapadi

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    What is the plan and hidden agenda of the government in renaming the villages

    DisAgree [3] Agree [3] Reply Report Abuse

  • Ahmed K.C., Mangalore

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    Bhakht jano Khush Huva !

    DisAgree [4] Agree [7] Reply Report Abuse

  • nitin, kodagu

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    what a nonsence Govt we elected. This shows their illiterate mentality.

    we public elected you to power improve railway not to rename it .

    we public elected you to make trains to run on time so that people would reach their destination on time be it for exams or other reason.

    you dont deserve to be in central and state.

    thank God you dint come to power in Karnataka.

    DisAgree [4] Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • rhea, mangalore

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    bhakts vl call it development😂

    DisAgree [5] Agree [18] Reply Report Abuse

  • Critic, Mangaluru

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    What can one expect from communals except only cowards are doing such silly things.

    DisAgree [9] Agree [20] Reply Report Abuse

  • Mark Dcruz, Mangalore

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    Does that make any difference.?
    Cow lynchings won't stop in these areas.

    DisAgree [5] Agree [20] Reply Report Abuse

  • Bennaje, Mumbai

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    Clearly shows how intolerant current government is. Day by day they are creating a divide. Let them not forget the wider the divide, more dangerous it will be to bring it together. The words of Sir Winston Churchill are coming true...“Power will go to the hands of ras­cals, rogues, free­boot­ers; all Indian lead­ers will be of low cal­i­ber and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst them­selves for power and India will be lost in polit­i­cal squabbles. A day would come when even air and water would be taxed in India".

    DisAgree [8] Agree [17] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    Please concentrate on giving us Clean Water, Electricity & Roads instead of this Nautanki ...

    DisAgree [9] Agree [24] Reply Report Abuse

  • Sheikh, Karkala

    Fri, Aug 10 2018

    BJP is indulging in silly politics. They don’t have any development program in their mind. Better ignore them & keep cool. Once they are out of power, then they will realize that they haven’t done anything good.

    DisAgree [6] Agree [16] Reply Report Abuse

  • pradeep, mangalore

    Thu, Aug 09 2018

    But their women wear a burqa called ghoonghat and Rajasthan rhymes with Pakisthan,Afghanisthan.
    What will they do about that?

    DisAgree [7] Agree [20] Reply Report Abuse


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Title: Rajasthan govt formally renames 3 ‘Islamic-sounding’ villages



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