Bhopal: In a fresh and enormous move, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh announced the renaming of 11 villages in the state, claiming that the move was in view of public sentiments. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav claimed that there were local demands to change the names of the large list of villages, which supposedly have names associated with the Muslim community, India Today reported.
CM Yadav told a gathering that the newly changed names will reflect the sentiment of the local people. They demanded the change of the names, and he was simply responding to their wishes, the CM claims. He claimed that certain names of villages aroused displeasure in people, and he felt that it was his responsibility to address them.
If there's no Mohammad in Mohammadpur Machhanai, then why retain such a name? If there are Muslim residents, they can keep their names. But if not, the names will be changed," the CM said
He said that Hindus have 33 crore deities in their culture, and the names can be inspired by any of them.
Last week, Yadav changed the names of three villages in the Ujjain district. The Gajnikhedi Panchayat was changed to Chamunda Mata village, Jahangirpur was renamed to Jagdishpur, and Maulana village was renamed Vikram Nagar.
The villages Mohammadpur Machhanai, Dhabla Hussainpur and Mohammadpur Pawadiya were renamed Mohanpur, Dhabla Ram and Rampur Pawadiya. Villages of Khajuri Alahdad, Hajipur, Nipaniya Hisamuddin and Reechdi Muradabad were renamed to Khajuri Ram, Heerapur, Nipaniya Dev and Ritchdi, respectively. Khalilpur was renamed Rampur, Ghatti Mukhtiyarpur to Ghatti, Unchhod to Unchavad and finally, Sheikhpur Bongi to Avadhpuri.