With barely six months to go for the next assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the newly-elected zila parishad of Ferozabad has moved a proposal to change the name the district to Chandwar Nagar, arguing that the present name was given by Mughal Emperor Akbar to honour his military official Feroz Shah.
Firozabad is famous for its glassware, particularly bangles.
The Yogi Adityanath government has earlier changed the names of Allahabad to Prayagraj, Faizabad to Ayodhya and Mughalsarai to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar.
A proposal to this effect was moved by Sadar block pramukh, Laxmi Narayan Yadav, who said that the ancient name of Ferozabad was Chandwar Nagar and hence its original name should be retained. The proposal was passed unanimously and now it would be sent to the state government to affect the name change in the official gazette.
Samajwadi Party members, however, claimed that it was not a unanimous decision.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party member brought the proposal when none of the opposition members were present. We came to know about the proposal after it was passed unanimously. In fact, three parties – Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress -- have raised objections to the proposal,” SP leader Dilip Tyagi told this reporter.
Ferozabad District Congress chief Sandeep Tiwari said that it was unfortunate that the ruling BJP members were not concerned about improving urban facilities as city roads turn into cesspools after light drizzles, the roads are full of potholes and water and power supply are inadequate in the district.
“Instead of looking into these issues, the BJP wants to change the name of the district for political gains because assembly elections are around the corner," he said
The official website of Ferozabad district administration says, "The ancient name of this town was Chandwar Nagar. The name of Ferozabad was given during the reign of Akbar by his military official Feroz Shah in 1566. It is said that Raja Todarmal was passing through this town during a pilgrimage to Gaya and he was looted by robbers and at his request Akbar sent Feroz Shah here. The tomb of Feroz Shah and ruins of Katra Pathanan are the evidence of this."
It is reported that Aligarh Muslim University professor emeritus and noted historian Irfan Habib has claimed that there is no historical evidence to prove that Ferozabad was known as Chandwar Nagar earlier. The name Ferozabad came into being during the tenure of Feroz Shah Tughlaq. The point that Akbar changed the so-called ancient name of Ferozabad is incorrect."