A diversion named Prayag

So Allahabad, which in itself was an alliteration, will now be known as Prayagraj. Contrary to the saffron narrative, Mughal king Akbar made the holy outpost into a bustling city which he named Ilahabad to chime with his syncretic faith Deen-e-Ilahi, which never really took off while the site of the Kumbh — the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati — continued to remain Prayag. In effect, it means a studied attempt at removing the layers of history that today is collectively called Hindustan. The focus of the Yogi government is obviously shifting from the encounter raj, which extracted terrible collateral damage that is still being repaired, to a more politically saleable option of renaming cities.

It is not as if the BJP shoulders the exclusivity for changing names. The Gandhi family has led the field by a wide margin. The Left Front governments in Kerala and West Bengal indulged in de-Anglicisation of city names on the pretext of catering to nativist sentiments, as did Tamil Nadu and Assam. In UP, all three big parties have been equally culpable. Mayawati named six UP districts after saints, gurus and Dalit icons. That didn’t work any electoral wonders. And when it was the turn of the Akhilesh Yadav government, in deference to his mass base, he changed them back to the familiar Amethi, Sambhal, Shamli, etc. The masses, however, were unimpressed and voted in the Yogi government. But none of the exertions were aimed at cocking a snook at a particular community. They were meant more to consolidate the flock of the already faithful.

In contrast, this is a deliberate in-your-face fusillade aimed at an already cornered community. The name change is clearly a politically-motivated, diversionary tactic meant to cover up unfulfilled promises. Identity is the most important need in the hierarchy of human needs. This type of exclusionary politics sets a dangerous precedent, for it has nothing to do with history or religion. Denying and deriding the identity of 20 per cent of the population while riding the high horse of vacuous nativity is a sure recipe for much unhappiness.