MUGHAL GARDEN NOW AMRIT UDYAN: The Raj Bhavan’s Mughal Garden may have more than 120 varieties of exotic roses but the far more famous Valley of Flowers in the Uttarakhand is now not accessible because of the mountains falling apart at Joshimath!

By Rajan Narayan

Hindu supremacy cannot be established merely by re-naming the Raj Bhavan’s Mughal Garden to Amrit Udhyan in New Delhi. Or how brave soldiers have been reduced to workers or how Rajpath has become Kartavya Path. To serve in the army is not a duty but an honor.

A ROSE by any other name is equally fragrant. By converting Mughal gardens into the Amrit gardens at the Raj Bhavan in Delhi the roses won’t turn into nectar. They will remain the same if showered the same love and affection. It is also unfair to the Mughal emperors who loved gardens and roses and spent much time, energy and money to hire professionals who on his instructions designed and cultivated the garden paradise of flowers.
Most visitors to the Raj Bhavan gardens appreciate the rose gardens for these were famed for their variety of roses. It is unfair that those who planted the roses lose the credit or hand it over to a government which has done nothing but take credit for doing nothing. The government of today have had nothing to do with the fame of the Mughal gardens of the Raj Bhavan.
The residence of the President of India till recently was called the Rashtrapati Bhavan. This gives the residence of the president status, dignity and a historical context which justifies the maintenance and upkeep of the magnificent official home of all the presidents of India while holding the post. To convert Rashtrapati Bhavan to Amrit Bhavan sounds as ridiculous as to convert Mughal Gardens into Amrit Gardens. No one objects to the word amrit but it is more appropriate for a sweet dish or a special flavor and it is not meant for the residence of the President of India. It is a joke and a bad joke on the grandeur of the history of Delhi and this nation no matter how good, bad or ugly
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RAJPATH TO KARTAVYA PATH!
TILL recently the Republic Day parade was held at Rajpath. This is the appropriate name for the magnificent pathway and a fitting tribute to the soldiers who fought for India’s freedom. The very expression Rajpath while being essentially Indian gives dignity to the soldiers who fought to protect their motherland. In a sense it is humiliating those who defend the nation by changing Rajpath to Kartavya Path.
Fighting for the country and defending it up to the cold snowy and windy heights of the mountains of the Himalaya at minus 50 deg temperature is a challenge and a honor for the men of the defence force. They have proved their love for their motherland Bharatmata again and again. The soldiers don’t put their life on the line because of kartavya or obligation. They are not just paid workers doing what they are ordered to do. The army is made up of volunteers but these volunteers are committed to the country and that is India no matter from which caste, color, religion or creed they come from.

BETTER HINDUS?
WHAT the BJP and the Modi government do not realise is that merely by changing names of historical monuments and names they are going to make themselves more Hindu or better Hindus. No matter what they do it is not going to change or erase the history of the country. How many names are they going to change to feed their false egos? If the name of the Rashtrapati Bhavan can be changed why not the name of the Ashoka Chakra which is the heart of the national flag?
In the name of making India into a Hindu country how many names are they going to change? Will each and every name perceived as Muslim or Christian change? How silly and idiotic it sounds and is it even possible? Will they even change the name of the Taj Mahal in their blind arrogance? I understand that several railway stations even in Goa like the Vasco da Gama railway station is on the list for a changeover of names even in Goa like Vasco-da-Gama are set to have their names changed.
In Uttar Pradesh the names of major monuments and new industrial ventures are being named after Hindu saints and gurus. We would not be surprised if the new Uttar Pradesh Airport will be become Swami Yogi Adityanath International Airport. Do all our BJP politicians want the names of monuments, streets, airports, seaports, etcetera named after them?

HINDU SUPREMACY
THE BJP is so obsessed with Hindu supremacy. It wants to create a dominant Hindu state. Unfortunately, unlike Christianity or Islam, Hindus do not have a common identity. Now have Hindus since times immemorial believed or engaged in a warfare of conversions. The Hinduism we inherit today come to us after a history of much evolution and consensus and that is why there can never be a concept of Hindu supremacy. This kind of supremacy can only be forced on people artificially or superficially. RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat’s definition is that every person born and who lives in India regardless of being Muslim or Christian or Sikh is a Hindu.
The irony is the very expression Hindu and Hindustan is not a Sanatan Dharma legacy but comes to us from the add-on vocabulary and legacy of Mughal and British rule and history in what one may call a synthesis of different civilisations and cultures from abroad – hence, today’s Indian civilisation is a bouquet of flowers in the best sense of the word. This is what makes us a country of unity in diversity – a blending of Hindu, Muslim, Christian histories.
All the land from Afghanistan to the Vindhiyas was considered part of Hindustan. Partly because the Mughals were in control of the areas and there was a predominantly Islamic culture influencing what came to be described as the older Hindu culture going back to even older migration stories happening in the larger sub-continent as oral history, long before it came to be recorded in a span of 5000 years and more.

DIFFERENT GOA!
GOA is of course different. Though Goa was affected marginally by Muslim rulers and influence this is not very significant. Goa has been influenced by Portuguese colonial rule in more recent history and has a European context, it has emerged as a cosmopolitan state and this is why tourists from the country over and abroad love to holiday in Goa where there is a sense of freedom in the air. Fortunately, so far nobody has thought of changing the name of the Adil Shah Palace in Panaji or the Safa Masjid in Ponda.
It is Goa’s Christian and Roman Catholic influence which has been predominant in Goa because of 420 years of Portuguese rule. We only hope the current name-changing mania does not spread to Goa. It is some kind of a disease which will take us to God alone knows what kind of a future, where confusion will rule at ground level while we struggle to come to terms with an ajeeb kind of amnesia.