Its Gurgaon You Stupid!

Today, the Haryana government in India renamed the city of Gurgaon as "Gurugram". Gurgaon is a city in the Indian state of Haryana located to the south-west of the National Capital Territory of Delhi,(20 mi) and 167 mi southwest of Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab.

Modern City of Gurgaon

Should the City Names be Changed?

Although I am in favor of naming of Indian towns to their native names form the names given by the invaders of the country - the Afghans, Mughals, British, and the Portuguese. Most of the current cities and town were created by these invaders who conquered India and established new cities named after them.

Why should the Indian public face the embarrassment of remembering their conquerors, plunderers, destroyers and rapists of their cultural and religious heritage, and their dignity?

Should Indians keep the names of the cities based on these villains in history - Aurangzeb who destroyed thousands of Hindu and Buddhist temples, and converted millions of Indians by force to Islam? Or Lord Dalhousie who annexed Punjab by defeating the Sikhs in Anglo-Sikh wars and sniped Koh-i-Noor from young prince Duleep Singh? Or should even be in a city commemorating the annihilation of infidel Hindus by "Gazi" invaders?

Submissive Hindus in the court of their conqurors

Cities created by Invading Conquerors

The first to conquer India and establish a Sultanate were the Turkish-origin natives of Afghanistan. They destroyed the native culture by plundering and burning down of the ancient cities and temples.

Qutub Minar Marking Afghan Victory over India

Here are some of the cities created by these Afghans:

• Sirhind (the Sarhad or border of India)
• Pathankot (The fort of the Pathans)
• Ludhiana (Home of the Lodhi Afghan dynasty)
• Delhi (the Dehleej or the frontyard of India)
• Hyderabad (Named by the Nizam Dynasty of Deccan)
• Ahmedabad (Named after Afghan ruler of Gujarat)
• Muzaffarnagar (Named after a Rohilla Afghan Nawab)
• Gaziabad (Named after the conquer of the city of infidels by the "Gazi" Afghans

Fatehpur Sikri Marking Mughal Victory over India

Here are some of the cities created by the Mughal dynasty:

• Fatehpur Sikri (Fateh = Victory of Mughals over India: Agra)
• Shahjehanabad (New Delhi named after Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan)
• Aurangabad (Named after Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb)
• Faizabad (Named after destruction of ancient city of Ayodhya)
• Moradabad (Named after Mughal prince Morad)

  

  Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh
  

  
  

Now lets look at the cities created by the Europeans:

• Montgomery (Named after General Robert Montgomery of WWII - Now Sahiwal)
• Lyallpur (Named after Sir Charles James Lyall - Now Faislabad)
• Dalhausie (Named after the conqueror of Punjab - Lord Dalhousie)
• Kanpur (Named Cawnpore by the British as mis-pronouncement of Kanh'pur)
• Mcleodganj (Named after British Officer - now Dharamsala)

Erasing the Memory of Conquests

Its natural for Indians to retake ownership of these cities and rename them in their native languages. Sikhs did the same in Punjab - the district of Adina Beg Nagar was renamed as Gurdaspur and the town came to be known as Dinanagar. Amritsar was destroyed seven times and renamed but it was rebuild and named as Amritsar every time.

Even Pakistan did so by changing the name of Lyallpur to Faislabad. This was another sign of slave mentality of Pakistani government. They got rid of the British "Montgomery" but adopted the name of another foreigner "King Faisal" of Saudi Arab as they renamed the city as Faislabad. Could they not tname it after a local personality?

Ridiculous Logic of Revivalist Organizations

I am a supporter of removing the names of the conquerors and plunderers and replacing them with native names. For example, it makes perfect sense to rename Kanpur as Kanhapur named after the Hindu deity or Madras to Chennai, or Bangalore to Bengaluru.  I even support renaming of cities like Dalhousie and Aurangabad. Even support the renaming of Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi to Abul Kalam Road but these naming needs to have some logic and historical evidence. I only ridicule the logic of the proponents of uneducated naming.

Its Gurh NOT Guru, You Stupid

Traditionally Gurgaon is famous for its jaggery sugar - commonly known as Gurh. Hence it was named as Gurhgaon or the Gaon or the village of the Gurh.

Sale of Gurh in Haryana

I would have preferred the native Haryanvi name of Gurhgaon as it reflects the local dialect and the natives of the land. Sanskritizing the name to Guru Gram based on a the mythological tale that has no historical evidence, represents the Brahaminical philosophy and and insult to the native Haryanvi language. The correct pronouncement of city's name in local Haryanvi language is "Gurh-Gaon" and not "Gurgaon" as spelled out in English. Some zealot who does not understand the local dialect has used the English spelling to misinterpret the name to Guru-Gram.

Correct Hindi Spelling - Gurhgaon

Uneducated interpretation of local language and my sympathy goes for the Haryanvi people and a big "F" to those zealots making this uneducated link with Mahabharata.

Its Bay of Bom not Mumbai Devi

Its not any different than renaming the city of Bombay after a made up goddess called Mumba Bai? The port was captured by the Portuguese who used it as a major port for commercial as well as military purpose. Later British annexed the port and pushed the Portuguese to the island of Goa. The kept the name of the port as Bombay. The right wing organization found an ancient temple and reinstated the idol of Mumba Bai, an imaginary native goddess. According to these people, Mumba Bai was the goddess for local native fishermen and its temple was destroyed by the Portuguese. Now its a known fact that the Portuguese did destroy Hindu temples in Mumbai and Goa and erected catholic churches at the same places. And I would accept if you say that "Mumbai" is the correct native pronouncement of city's name. But concocting a mythological tale to authenticate their version of history is logically flawed.

Port of Bombay before its urbanization

But who cares for logic? 

These renaming are popular with the public as it touches the chord on the embarrassment of defeat and conquests by foreigners. But the renaming needs to have some historical evidence and logical sense.