India's BJP changes Muslim name of Allahabad to Prayagraj
The city, home of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and
located 650km southeast of the Indian capital New Delhi, was named
Allahabad by Muslim Mughal rulers in the 16th century.
Its new name, Prayagraj, refers to the confluence of the Ganges and
Yamuna rivers, the site of the Hindu mega-festival Kumbh Mela, which is
to take place in January.
More than 100 million people attended the gathering when it was last held in 2013.
Onkar Singh, a spokesperson for the opposition Congress party, has
previously said the name change diminishes the city's role during
India's struggle for independence from the British.
He called the city a "centre of inspiration", according to the Indian
Express, and noted it was the site of several important meetings between
Indian leaders in late 19th century, which he said "gave shape to the
freedom movement".
The city's name change comes amid concern over what critics say is a bid
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party to erase the
country's diverse history and identity.
Since Adityanath - a priest who has been accused of inciting violence
against India's Muslim minority - was appointed to lead UP last year, he
has proposed changing several Mughal-era names of buildings in the
state.
Last year, he renamed the Mughalsarai Junction Railway Station after
Hindu ideologue Denn Dayal Upadhyaya, and proposed to change the names
of airports in Bareilly, Kanpur and Agra to ones with Hindu
associations.
Muslims make up 19 percent of the state's 220 million population.
Modi's BJP won control of the country's most populous state in March
last year, earning the biggest majority in UP for any party since 1977.
India's 1.3 billion people are about 80 percent Hindu and 14 percent
Muslim, with the rest made up of Christians, Sikhs and other minorities.
It is officially a secular nation, but the BJP has for years contested
elections on a Hindu nationalist platform, with party members in the
past being accused of making anti-Muslim statements to polarise Hindu
voters.
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