After the recent renaming of Prayagraj, few other states have decided to take an initiative to restore the historical names of several cities in the country. The Himachal Pradesh government is now considering to rename Shimla as ‘Shyamala’ in an attempt to eliminate the “symbols of British rule”, a report said.
According to the reports, the demand by some sections to restore the historical names of certain cities to regain the lost glory has been doing rounds recently. The groups like Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad and also Health Minister Vipin Parmar has been pushing the state government to restore the historical name of ‘Shimla’ after the Uttar Pradesh government decided to rename Allahabad as ‘Prayagraj’. Vipin Parmar said there is no harm in changing the name of Shimla to ‘Shyamala’
The VHP had long demanded the renaming of the city of ‘Shimla’. The former Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had rejected the demand of the VHP to restore the name of the former British Summer capital-Shimla.
“Slavery can either be physical, mental or cultural. Sticking to names given by oppressors is a sign of mental slavery. Changing names of town is a small but significant step. The country had done away with several symbols of British rule after independence, but in Himachal, several names remain of the colonial time,” VHP state president Aman Puri said.
Aman Puri further added that the Britishers changed the earlier name of Shyamala to Shimla as they couldn’t pronounce the former.
The renaming or restoring of historical names of the cities has gained traction after the recent decision of the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath to restore the name of ‘Prayagraj’ ahead of Kumbh Mela in 2019. Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Naik on Saturday approved the renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj with immediate effect.
This renaming of the iconic places is not new, as Yogi Adityanath government earlier had renamed the Mughalsarai station of the Uttar Pradesh as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction in an attempt to revive the legacy of one of the greatest leaders of the country.