New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) renamed Aurangzeb Lane in Lutyens' Delhi to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Lane, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday. The NDMC approved the renaming of the road in a meeting of its members.
Notably, Aurangzeb Lane connects the Abdul Kalam Road with Prithvi Raj Road.
According to PTI, the NDMC had in August 2015 changed the name of Aurangzeb Road to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
"An agenda item is placed before the Council to consider renaming 'Aurangzeb Lane' under the NDMC area as 'Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Lane' in terms of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 231 of the New Delhi Municipal Act, 1994," NDMC Vice Chairman Satish Upadhyaya said.
"The Council has approved the renaming of Aurangzeb Lane as Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam Lane," he added.
Earlier in 2015, Muslim groups had objected to NDMC's decision to rename Aurangzeb Road after late President APJ Abdul Kalam, terming it as a "deliberate" move that is "likely to set the trend of rechristening other cities/streets distorting history".
"It is a deliberate effort, it will not halt here. This is because soon after the road was named after Abdul Kalamji, Shiv Sena said it will change the name of Maharashtra's Aurangabad district where the Mughal Emperor's graveyard is located.
"They have a long list of cities/roads named after some historical figures or Muslim Emperors, which they want to change," Dr S Q R Ilyas, President of Welfare Party of India, told PTI.
A section of historians and scholars had also criticised the renaming of Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens' Delhi, saying it is a result of a "slanted view" of history and cautioned that such renaming exercises will "open up a can of worms," according to PTI.
Noted historian Narayani Gupta said that issues like these arise because people don't have a sense of history.
"Aurangzeb Road, alongside a cluster of others named after Mughal rulers like Akbar and Shahjehan, were given by the British when they designed the new imperial capital of New Delhi.
"This and Ashoka Road and Firozshah Road, besides King George V and Queen Mary and Hardinge and Wellesley were suggested by noted historian Percival Spear, who was teaching history at St Stephen's College then.
"So, just removing a historic name doesn't augur well. Moreso, when it has history behind the naming. And, a true tribute to Kalam would have been a science museum for children, and not some renamed signpost," Gupta said.
New Delhi was designed by British architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens along with Sir Herbert Baker from 1911-1931, reported PTI.