Govt Says UP Education Panel Website Was Hacked Amid Row Over Poet Akbar Allahabadi's Name Change

In 2019, the Centre approved the renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj as sought by the Yogi Adityanath government.

Famous Urdu poet Akbar Allahabadi (Source: Wikipedia)

New Delhi: The website of Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC), an autonomous body under the state government, mentions famous Urdu poet Akbar Allahabadi as Akbar Prayagraj. 

However, a government official said the website was hacked and a complaint was lodged with the Cyber Cell of the city police, PTI reported.

"It was evidently a handiwork of some miscreants expressing their apparent resentment over the change of name of Allahabad," PTI quoted Dr Vishvakarma as saying.

In 2019, the Centre approved the renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj as sought by the Yogi Adityanath government.

In the "About Allahabad" section in the UPHESC website, the name of Urdu poet Syed Akbar Hussain, popularly known as Akbar Allahabadi, has been changed to Akbar Prayagraj.

Besides Akbar Allahabadi, poets Rashid Allahabadi and Tegh Allahabadi also have been renamed. They have been mentioned as "Rashid Prayagraj" and "Tegh Prayagraj".

In the para mentioning literary and artistic heritage of the city, the website says, "Besides Hindi literature, Persian and Urdu literature are also studied in the city. Akbar Prayagraj is a noted modern Urdu poet, and Nooh Narwi, Tegh Prayagraj, Shabnam Naqvi and Rashid Prayagraj have their origin in Prayagraj."

The development has sparked a debate on social media, with many criticising the UP government.

UP govt also changed Allahabadi takhallus (pen-name) of poets into Prayagraj. On its website, UP Higher Education Services Commission wrote the names of Akbar Allahabadi, Rashid Allahabadi and Tegh Allahabadi as Akbar Prayagraj, Rashid Prayagraj and Tegh Prayagraj. pic.twitter.com/kTHa0P1KLy

— Waquar Hasan (@WaqarHasan1231) December 28, 2021

A professor at Allahabad University, Heramb Chaturvedi, called the move an act of "disruption". Chaturvedi told The Print that changing pen names of famous poets showed that "authorities have a skewed understanding of history".

Akbar Allahabadi is known for his couplets and poems that talk about peace and harmony between Hindus and Muslims. He was bestowed with the title Khan Bahadur by the British government for his work in judicial services.

A collection of his poems on Mahatma Gandhi, titled Gandhinama, is also very famous. The title "Lisan-ul-Asr" was bestowed upon him for his literary excellence.