Shiv Sena wants Aurangabad renamed to Sambhaji Nagar

MUMBAI: The move to change the name of Delhi’s Aurangzeb Road to Abdul Kalam Road has prompted the Shiv Sena to renew its demand to rename Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar, after the son of Maratha warrior Shivaji.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has said that the party will rename not just the city but also call Aurangabad airport Raje Sambhaji Airport. The Shiv Sena had been demanding for change of name of the historic city for several years.

Jnanpith award winner and wellknown writer Balchandra Nemade criticised the demand, saying it was nothing but an effort to ‘alter history’.

Nemade, who was in Nagpur on Tuesday, said that those calling for the name change should instead provide water to the drought-hit people of the state. “This name change move should stop, this is foolish… A name has a history behind it, changing history is foolishness.

They should first provide water to the people instead of making such demands,” said Nemade.

However, not everybody is convinced. For instance, Sadanand More, a writer who heads the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, has welcomed the move to rename Aurangabad, but said that the city should be named after Aurangzeb’s elder brother Dara Shikoh. There were similar calls to rename Aurangzeb Road as Dara Shikoh Road.

Nemade also came down on investigating agencies for not being able to solve crimes committed against intellectuals and rationalists.

Reacting to the murder of MM Kalburgi in Karnataka, he said that cops were there not just to levy fines for traffic offences. “Why do we need cops who are not able to solve murders… we don’t need cops who just print challans or levy fines for traffic offences,” he said.