Mumbai: BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar on Saturday, April 26, demanded the renaming of certain towns and villages in Maharashtra’s Sangli district “to erase the traces of the Mughal era”, and called for restoring the original names of these places.
Talking to reporters, he said he will soon write to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to request that the name of Khanapur town be changed to Bhavanipur.
“Similarly, the names of Sultan Gade village and Umadi village in Jat taluka should be changed. Wherever there are Mughal-era traces, those names should be erased and earlier names should be restored,” said Padalkar, who represents the Jat constituency in Sangli.
The demand comes against the backdrop of the alleged desecration of a Nandi idol at a Mahadev temple in Khanapur.
The legislator also alleged that the concept of ‘sarva dharma sama bhav‘ (all religions are equal) was misleading and imposed on Hindus.
“‘Sarva dharma sama bhav’ has been fed to Hindus like an intoxicating pill. Hindus must come out of it. Why is it that only Hindus are expected to observe it?” he asked.
On the Pahalgam terror attack, Padalkar said, “If Hindus and Muslims truly share brotherly relations, why were Hindus singled out and shot after being asked about their religion? Even after the recital of Islamic verses, some victims were forced to undress themselves and then shot dead. This shows the falsehood behind the slogan of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood.”
Padalkar added that Kashmiri Pandits were driven out of Kashmir by their own neighbours and not by Pakistanis.
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