From Kol in the 12th century to Aligarh in the 16th to now becoming Harigarh, there’s a lot in the name of this district of Uttar Pradesh.
The Aligarh Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday unanimously passed a resolution to rename Aligarh as Harigarh. It has now been sent to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government for a final nod. “A proposal to rename Aligarh as Harigarh was unanimously approved by the civic corporation. The proposal, which was first prepared by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Sanjay Pundit, was cleared during the board meeting. It has been sent to the state government for final approval," said Prashant Singhal, mayor, Aligarh.
While Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders say the renaming is just misuse of power, mainly aimed at diverting people’s attention from the burning issues, locals say the name Aligarh, even if changed, will remain in their hearts forever. “There are several civic issues in Aligarh. I wonder why the Aligarh Municipal Corporation is more interested in changing the name of the city rather than solving the civic issues," said Musharraf Hussain, an SP corporator from Aligarh.
“I was born and brought up in Aligarh. I have grown up seeing the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb and vibrant culture. It will remain Aligarh in our hearts even if its name changed to Harigarh or whatever," said Sanjay Chauhan, trader who hails from Aligarh.
THE RENAMING SAGA: LAWYERSPEAK
Vinesh Pal Singh, a lawyer who hails from Aligarh, said the original name of Aligarh in the 12th century was Kol. It used to be a major city of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire and used to serve as a prime economic centre.
In the 16th century, the city was renamed several times, before being finalised as Aligarh.
The demand to rename Aligarh as Harigarh is not new. Locals say the first such demand came up in the 1970s. “A right-wing group had demanded the name of Aligarh be changed, stating that the actual name mentioned in Hindu mythology is Harigarh. It was backed by many Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists," said Singh.
The year 1992 saw another attempt to change the name during the regime of then chief minister Kalyan Singh, but it bore no fruit. In 2015, too, the VHP pushed for Aligarh’s rechristening.
In 2018, the state government renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya, and Mughalsarai Railway Station in Chandauli district as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction. Almost a year later, Allahabad was renamed as Prayagraj.
The issue came to light again on August 21, 2023, when UP deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, while addressing a public rally to mark the second death anniversary of Kalyan Singh, called Aligarh ‘Harigarh’, prompting several BJP leaders to voice similar demands later. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, too, were present at the event.
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