We in India have developed a new political interest and hobby: renaming places. Bombay became Mumbai; Madras became Chennai; Calcutta became Kolkata; Allahabad became Prayagraj; and Faizabad district became Ayodhya. Some changes carried linguistic logic, cultural correction, or historical reclamation. Fair enough. Over time, people adjust. Maps update. Station announcers improve their pronunciation. And life settles in.

And then we start looking at the next pace to rename. And we have a strategy to do so. Stroke public sentiment. Rename first, think later. Take Lansdowne, the quaint little tourist town of Uttarakhand.

The charming hill town was named after Lord Lansdowne—Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, Viceroy of India from 1888 to 1894. The Garhwal Rifles moved here in 1887, and the town evolved around the cantonment and military presence. Today, the Lansdowne Cantonment Board retains and remains the governing institutions of the area.

Recently, the board adopted a proposal to rename Lansdowne as Jaswantgarh, after Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat, the celebrated 1962 Nuranang war hero and Maha Vir Chakra awardee, representing the 4th Battalion of the Garhwal Rifles.

Let me state clearly: I am not against name changes. I support them when they........

© Free Press Journal