"India is in a cultural renaissance": Union Minister Shekhawat supports Maharashtra Govt on Islampur renaming

Mumbai (Maharshtra) [India], July 19 (ANI): Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that the proposal to rename Islampur in Sangli district as Ishwarpur in Maharashtra reflects India's ongoing cultural renaissance. He said that it marks an effort to restore historical identities that were once deliberately erased.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Shekhawat said, "There were many of our subjects, places, history books, and incidents, which were intentionally erased, or attempts were made to erase them. Now that they are coming alive again, and India is going through a phase of cultural renaissance, this should be seen with a healthy mindset, from a perspective that these are being restored."
Supporting the decision, Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane said that a place named "Islampur" does not fit with what he described as India being a "Hindu nation."
"Today, CM Devendra Fadnavis has approved this decision. It was a long-standing demand of the people of that region...The name of a place in our country cannot be Islampur, where the majority of the people are Hindus. Is it Pakistan? This is a 'Hindu Rashtra' so the names of the places should be of Hindu ideology," he told ANI.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh criticised the Maharashtra government's decision, saying that the focus should be on improving basic facilities, such as water, roads, and public spaces.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, Shaikh questioned how long the government would continue to fool people with such moves.
"Rename Islampur as Ishwarpur, do everything but besides this, also work for the welfare of the city. There is no proper drinking water facility or roads there. There are no gardens and playgrounds there. People are living in increasingly worse conditions. So, how long will you fool people like this?" he said.
Reacting to this, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve said, "This government is only interested in creating casteism and conflicts."
Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) leader Jayant Patil also claimed that there were very few people behind the demand to rename Islampur as Ishwarpur.
"There were very few people who had been demanding this change for some years. This does not mean the locals wanted this, too," Patil said.
The Maharashtra Government on Friday announced that Islampur in Sangli district will be renamed Ishwarpur. The announcement was made in the state legislature on the last day of the monsoon session. (ANI)