Madhya Pradesh pro-tem speaker Rameshwar Sharma has suggested renaming Bhopal’s Idgah Hills as “Guru Nanak Dev Tekri” as Guru Nanak purportedly visited the place 500 years ago.
Justifying his statement, Sharma said that the Madhya Pradesh government renamed Hoshangabad as Narmadapuram because Hoshang Shah, after whom the place was named, was allegedly a looter.
The Congress has criticised Sharma’s statement and said that he is trying to damage the social fabric of the society by creating a rift between Sikhs and Muslims.
“Pro tem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma should desist from damaging the social fabric of the society and unnecessary spilling blood. Saying that Idgah should be renamed as Guru Nanak Dev Tekri, you are trying to engage Muslims and Sikhs into fight. Before such conspiracy, one should know that the foundation of Amritsar Saheb was laid by Mian Mirbanki,” said K K Mishra.
“The Idgah Hills in Bhopal should be known as “Guru Nanak Dev Tekri” because Guru Nanak Dev ji visited the place 500 years ago when there was no Idgah. We are lucky that Guru Nanak ji arrived here during his India tour. People of this area also called this place as Guru Nanak Tekri. I appeal to the people to call it in the name of Guru Nanak as it is not a wrong demand,” Sharma told the Times of India during the celebrations of Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev,
The BJP leader’s statement was also supported by local Hindu organisations who have demanded to change names of old areas to their original names.
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
