The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a petition seeking directions to the Central government to constitute a ‘Renaming Commission’ to find out and restore the original names of ancient historical, cultural and religious places which were changed by foreign invaders.
The PIL was filed in the Supreme Court by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay on February 12, 2023, days after the Mughal Garden in New Delhi was renamed Amrit Udyan.
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— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) February 27, 2023
‘You Want To Keep The Country On Boil? Don’t Belittle Hinduism’s Greatness’ : #SupremeDismisses Ashwini Upadhyay’s Plea To Rename Cities#SupremeCourtOfIndia https://t.co/WHWiShpgwI
While dismissing the plea, the apex court bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna questioned the motive of the PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, saying it will bring alive those issues, “which would keep the country on the boil”.
The bench made the remark when petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay asked the court why history should start only after Ghazni-Ghori. What is Aurangazeb’s relationship with India?” he asked.
“We have roads after Lodhi, Ghazni, Ghori….there is no single road named after Pandavas, though Indraprastha was constructed by Yudhishtir. Faridabad was named after the person who looted,” Upadhyay remarked.
Upadhyay urged that Constitutional protections should not be given to foreign invaders, adding that renaming of such structures is necessary because Hindus have become a minority in many historical places.
Sensing that the bench was not inclined to entertain the matter, Upadhyay sought permission to withdraw the petition with the liberty to file a representation before the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, the bench said that it will not allow such a course to be adopted.
However, the bench said that it will not allow such a course to be adopted.
The bench here, while talking about Hinduism said that Hinduism has a great tradition and it should not be belittled.
“Hinduism is the greatest religion in terms of metaphysics. The heights that Hinduism has in the Upanishads, Vedas, and Bhagavad Gita is unequal in any system. We should be proud of that. Please don’t belittle it. We have to understand our own greatness. Our greatness should lead us to be magnanimous. I am a Christian. But I am equally fond of Hinduism. I am trying to study it. You read the works of Dr S Radhakrishan on Hindu philosophy,” Justice Joseph said.
If you come to Kerala, it was the Hindu rajas who donated lands for churches, they gave money. That is the history of India. Please understand that,” he added.
Further speaking on Hinduism, Justice Nagarathn stated, “Hinduism is a way of life. There is no bigotry in Hinduism.”
To this, Upadhyay replied that Hindus have been “wiped off from many historical places due to this kind of nature”. He said that Hindus are in a minority in many states and districts.
The bench, however, rejected the plea while describing it as against secular principles of the Constitution.
Disheartened by the SC’s decision, lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay tweeted in Hindi that the “issue of Renaming Commission is not over today but started today. The case will now go to the people’s court and India will definitely win. India will now hit the road and will struggle till the last trace of the barbaric tyrants is eradicated.”
#RenamingCommission का मुद्दा आज खत्म नहीं हुआ है बल्कि आज शुरु हुआ है।#नामकरण_आयोग का मामला अब जनता की अदालत में चलेगा और हिंदुस्तान अवश्य जीतेगा
— Ashwini Upadhyay अश्विनी उपाध्याय (@AshwiniUpadhyay) February 27, 2023
हिंदुस्तान अब सड़क पर उतरेगा और वहशी दरिंदो का नामोनिशान मिटने तक संघर्ष करेगा।@SunilAmbekarM @Ramlal@blsanthosh @DattaHosabale pic.twitter.com/gOMd7T3ywc
PIL filed in SC seeking the formation of a Renaming Commission to identify ancient, historical, and religious places named after foreign invaders
Notably, in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in Supreme Court, lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, had asked the Supreme Court to issue an appropriate directive to the Home Ministry to form a “Renaming Commission” to determine the original names of “ancient historical cultural religious places” in order to protect the sovereignty and secure the “Right to Dignity, Right to Religion, and Right to Culture” guaranteed by Articles 21, 25, and 29 of the Indian Constitution.
According to the PIL, while the Mughal Garden in Rashtrapati Bhawan was recently renamed Amrit Udyan, the government has not renamed a large number of roads named after invaders. It states several examples like Babur Road, Humayun Road, Akbar Road, Jahangir Road, Shahjahan Road, Bahadur Shah Road, Sher Shah Road, Aurangzeb Road, Tughlak Road, Safdarjung Road, Najaf Khan Road, Jauhar Road, Lodhi Road, Chelmsford Road and Hailey Road etc.
The petition pointed out that houses of Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians and the Hon’ble Judges are located on these roads.
Citing names of the prominent persons of the Mahabharat era, the PIL states that “injury to the citizens is extremely large” as Pandavas who converted a deserted land of Khandavprastha into Indraprastha do not have a single road, municipal ward, Assembly Constituency named after Lord Krishna, Balram, the five Pandavas, Draupadi, Kunti, and Abhimanyu. But many such places have been named after barbaric foreign invaders.
The PIL contended that this infringes the rights to dignity, religion, and culture protected by Articles 21, 25, and 29 of the Indian Constitution in addition to being against Indian sovereignty.
