Renowned Urdu poet Akbar Allahabadi’s name was changed to Akbar Prayagraj on Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission’s (UPHESC), website. The Commission’s officials restored the name, claiming the website was hacked after criticism from social media users.
The Allahabad district was renamed Prayagraj in 2018 by the Yogi Adityanath government, as part of the BJP government’s communal agenda to change cities named after Muslims.
The renowned poets and litterateurs whose last name “Allahabadi” was replaced by “Prayagraj” included Akbar Allahabadi, Tej Allahabadi and Rasheed Allahabadi.
On Tuesday, several social media users shared screenshots of a page on the Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Service Commission’s website that showed the pen names of him and two other poets – Tegh Allahabadi and Rashid Allahabadi – as “Pragyagraj”.
UP govt also changed Allahabadi takhallus (pen-name) of poets into Prayagraj. On its website, UP Higher Education Services Commission wrote the names of Akbar Allahabadi, Rashid Allahabadi and Tegh Allahabadi as Akbar Prayagraj, Rashid Prayagraj and Tegh Prayagraj. pic.twitter.com/kTHa0P1KLy— Waquar Hasan (@WaqarHasan1231) December 28, 2021 Everytime you think this has got to be the most stupidest thing ever, someone wakes up and says: Unbelievable. Tragedy and Farce and in the reign of the culturally challenged. Wonder what Akbar Allahabadi would quip on this…Famous poet Akbar Allahabadi is now Akbar Prayagraj, says UP higher education panel website https://t.co/74DSz2vBdj via @ThePrintIndia— Saba Naqvi (@_sabanaqvi) December 28, 2021
https://t.co/tOgYrvfCDE— Surya Sadasivan (@SuryaSadasivan) December 29, 2021
On Wednesday, the commission’s chairperson Ishwar Charan Vishvakarma told PTI that the website was hacked and the hackers had allegedly replaced the name.
“It was evidently a handiwork of some miscreants expressing their apparent resentment over the change of name of Allahabad,” Dr Vishvakarma said, adding that the Commission had no role in changing the names on the website.
A complaint has been filed with the Cyber Cell of the city police in relation to the hacking incident, Dr Vishvakarma said.
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