To

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

PMO, Raisina Hill, South Block,

New Delhi - 110011

Dear and respected Prime Minister,

Here is a request with a suggestion. The request is you to change the name of district Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh) and appropriately rename it as Awadh or Saket. It can also be renamed as Ayodhya that is only seven kilometers away from the district headquarters and is known throughout the world for being the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The world over there has been a trend to restore the old and ancient glory of the places by renaming them. In our country Madras has been renamed as Chennai, Bombay as Mumbai, Calcutta as Kolkata, Bangalore as Bengaluru, Vizag as Visakhapatnam, Banaras as Varanasi etc. Even the names of the many countries have been changed for retaining the old glory with which they were attached to. For instance, our neighboring countries like Ceylon has become Sri Lanka and Burma is rechristened as Myanmar.

I come from the Awadh region and I personally find it very painful that an ancient city was ravaged and devastated by a whimsical tyrant so much so that its name was changed to Faizabad. No body knows why was it done and why the old name Saket was not allowed to be retained? This was obviously done some times during the Mughal Period and the people of the area were so suppressed and terror- stricken that they could not raise their voice against this cultural barbarity.

The expectations of the people have gone up to sky high with your ascendancy as the Prime Minister of India. Although all the expectations and aspirations of the people cannot be met or fulfilled, yet change of the names of places with those of our rich heritage will not be difficult to be done. It can be achieved without any murmur of opposition from any side. Even professional secularists will not have the courage to oppose it. The people will get a sense of pride and belonging with which they have been associated with from time a memorial with this bold act of this government.

Needless to say, that the name signifies the quality and characteristic of a person, place of thing. There may be some crazy people, who will quote the Shakespearean line – What is there in the name? But even a devil can quote scriptures.  The fact is that if the rose is called by any other name, it will undoubtedly give the same fragrance but there will always be chances to be disillusioned. People often are attracted or distracted, in the first blush, only by the names. If some one calls a rose by marigold, it will certainly betray his/her ignorance. How apt is the Sanskrit saying, which says ‘Yatha Naamah Thataa Gunah’. Hence, it will be in the fitness of the things and time that the name of Faizabad should be changed to either Awadh or Ayodhya or Saket.

I have every reason to believe that a person of your understanding and courage will take the appropriate steps to fill the peoples’ heart with a feel of pride.

In addition, here is a suggestion. The name of Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Allahabad should also be appropriately changed. It is a painful to see that the legacy of slavery is carried on day in a day out in place like Delhi, which is the capital of India. I fail to understand why the names of some of the roads were named after independence, associated with the persons who ruled over this country with the cruelty, insensitivity and heartlessness. For example, I do not find any logic as to why we have Akbar Road, Humayun Road, Babar Road, Aurangzeb Road, Shahjahan Road, Tughlaq Road and Safdarjung Road in Delhi as these names are associated with Mughal rulers, who did not have any care or concern for the people of the country.

I, therefore, earnestly appeal to you that right steps should be taken to rectify these Himalayan wrongs and injustices, which have been shamelessly perpetrated to crush the honour and self-respect of the people. 

Thanking you and with warm regards,

Yours faithfully,

Parmanand Pandey

Advocate-on-Record

Supreme Court of India