India’s cultural erasure of Muslim heritage intensifies under Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — India’s ruling Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has intensified efforts to erase the country’s centuries-old Muslim heritage, systematically renaming cities, roads, and historic sites to align with its Hindu nationalist vision.
From Mughal-era landmarks to local towns, the government has increasingly sought to strip places of their Islamic identity, replacing them with names linked to Hindu rulers and ideologues.
The latest move comes from the northern state of Uttarakhand, where Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami—an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi—recently renamed 17 places with Muslim-sounding names.
The state government claims the changes “honor Indian culture and heritage,” but critics argue it is part of a broader attempt to rewrite history and erase the presence of India’s Muslim past.
Among the altered names, Aurangzebpur is now Shivaji Nagar, Ghaziwali has been renamed Arya Nagar, and Miyanwala has been changed to Ramjiwala. Some new names honor Hindu nationalist figures, such as Guru Golwalkar Marg—named after the second chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP.
This pattern is not new. In recent years, cities such as Allahabad—renamed Prayagraj—and Mughal Sarai—renamed Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction—have undergone similar changes, reflecting the BJP’s agenda to reframe Indian history through the lens of Hindu nationalism..
The targeting of Muslim names and symbols is part of a larger effort to marginalize the country’s Muslim population and recast India as an exclusively Hindu civilization.
The push to erase Muslim history aligns with the BJP’s wider ideological goals. Under Modi’s leadership, the party has promoted policies that marginalize Muslims, including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), crackdowns on madrassas, and demolition drives targeting Muslim-owned properties.
The renaming of places, critics argue, is another form of cultural violence—an attempt to deny the contributions of Muslim dynasties and rewrite India’s identity through a Hindu supremacist lens.
By systematically erasing Muslim heritage, India’s ruling party is not just changing names—it is reshaping the country’s historical consciousness, ensuring that future generations grow up in an India where Islamic contributions to its architecture, culture, and governance are deliberately obscured.
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