By Aziz A Mubaraki,
New Delhi Municipal Corporation has changed the name of a prominent thoroughfare in the city from “Aurangzeb Road” to “APJ Abdul Kalam Road”. The road which was named decades ago after the Mughal emperor has now been renamed after India’s “Missile Man”.
No doubt, our current majestic masters would rejoice at our enthusiasm in naming streets or roads after great people. But with this un-solicitous rush, we have also added a degree of silliness to the process. The people who are euphoric with the replacement of the name have obviously missed the big point that New Delhi’s geography had been motivated by history and not on political beliefs or chauvinism.
I mean Mahatma Gandhi certainly would have been on an eternal hunger strike if he knew that Delhi’s congested Ring Road – which denotes everything about modernity that the Mahatma Gandhi ostracized – bore his name. Similarly, I fail to understand how Park Street of Kolkata which is famous for pubs & bars reflects the legacy of Mother Teresa or for that matter Marine Drive in Mumbai reflects the ideas & ideals of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Apart from it many historians have pointed out that it is difficult to single out Aurangzeb as a particularly ferocious or brutal ruler, or even a rabidly anti-Hindu emperor. It is undeniable, he clamped down on certain Hindu religious practices, destroyed some temples and killed some people, but it was more to suppress rivals which was in no way connected to his personal religious belief. He destroyed some temples either for hidden treasures or to discourage their use for planning rebellion against him. All above can be verified by the fact, he did not abandon the Mughal graciousness of Hindu mansabdars.
He helped build, renovate and patronized many Hindu temples like the Chitrakut or Balaghat where the Emperor himself granted 300 bighas of land for the Mandir or Umananda, the oldest temple of Bhagwan Bhosle Shankar situated on the banks of river Brahmaputra in Guwahati or offered annual grants to Maa Kamakhya Mandir- another famous temple situated on the hills of Nilachaal near Guwahati. In Hindu holy city of Ayodhya he donated 1000 bighas of land to a Hindu trust to build a grand temple and also to build resting places for Hindu pilgrims- Yugal Kishore Sharan Shastri, head of Sarayukunj Ramjanaki Mandir in Ayodhya confirmed this in a social media post the other day.
Perhaps, it’s imperative to understand that Aurangzeb was not democratically elected or inherited the empire peacefully; he had to fight hard to attain what he achieved, sustained and later ruled. Therefore it is understandable that the occurrences during such course was neither exclusive nor an exception or in anyway limited to Aurangzeb only, as it was the norm to ascend thrones during the period. It is impractical to jump to an opinion on Aurangzeb, as he was not a short-lived experience defined by a single event. He lived and shaped Indian history through nearly seven decades- first as Shah Jahan’s son, then as his viceroy down south, followed by as “Shahenshah e Hind” or India’s ruler.
Apart from it, if he had been so rabidly anti-Hindu – and hostile toward the large section of his subject – then it would have been impossible for him to continue on the Mughal throne for such long period.
Coming back to point, changing names of Roads are fine if it gives people the feeling of pride and self-respect. APJ Kalam was certainly a great scholar, a statesman and a former President of the country; there is nothing wrong on naming a street, town or a city after him, but why was he chosen for this particular Delhi road? Delhi is one of the greatest cities in the world with rich history of over 1,000 years. It would be unfortunate if residents fail to appreciate it and focus their energy on inconsequential things like naming of streets.
On the contrary, I wonder why nobody is seeking to rename Ashoka, Tughlaq, or Akbar roads. Unsurprisingly, it’s no secret that Ashoka launched a bloody massacre against the state of Kalinga. It is believed that the sheer extent of that gory war led Ashoka to embrace Buddhism, although some historians contradict this and state that Ashoka continued his invasion against other states even after his conversion. The Tughlaqs were no less bloody either, particularly; Muhammad bin Tughlaq spared neither Hindus nor Muslims when he illogically decided to shift the entire population of Delhi to his new capital Daulatabad. And finally, it cannot be forgotten that the most celebrated Mughal King Akbar too had blood on his hands. Remember that Bahram Khan, the man who raised Akbar from his childhood, was
ultimately killed on the emperor’s order.
But irrespective of all facts above, if killing innocents or razing religious structures is still a sort of a benchmark to judge someone, then I am sure historians some decades or centuries later will equate some of today’s rulers in India to some Mughal rulers (tyrannical to some) because they too have led mobs to massacre of innocents and razed religious structures, sometime following the action-reaction theory and others in the name of beautification, broadening of roads, laying routes for metro rails and other development work.
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The author is Member, Advisory Committee, Airport Authority of India(NSC), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. He can be contacted at [email protected] .
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