The change of name of the town of Islampur in the Sangli district of the Maharashtra state came into effect on Friday when the government announced that Islampur will now be renamed as Ishwarpur. This announcement was made on the last day of the state monsoon legislative session. Authority to change name was given in the state cabinet meeting on Thursday, confirmed Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, addressing the legislative assembly.
According to the legal process that a town and a city should undergo before they can be renamed, this is because Bhujbal indicated that after receiving cabinet approval, the state government will now present the resolution to the Central Government so that it can clear the name change of the town and the city.
The step comes after a change drive was recently undertaken by the Hindutva outfit Shiv Pratisthan, which submitted an official memorandum to the Sangli clerk court requesting the change. It is the organization that was established mostly through the leadership of a leading Hindutva leader, Sambhaji Bhide, and has been lobbying hard to have the renaming. The pro-Bhide members have proclaimed that they will not sleep till such a day when finally the name of the town represents what they consider is its original, cultural identity.
The call to rename Islampur to Ishwarpur is not new, as a number of political and community leaders over the decades have expressed the same. A leader of Shiv Sena in Islampur emphasized that this requirement had not been fulfilled since 1986, which means that this feeling is very deep-rooted in a part of the local community.
This renaming will be viewed by some as just a part of a national movement that sees cities and towns renamed to be more in line with the past, culture, or religion. But these actions are usually the source of political and social controversies, particularly in diverse states such as Maharashtra.
The proposal has now reached the Centre; the decision thus lies with the Union Government. Upon its approval, the town of Islampur will henceforth officially be called Ishwarpur in all representations of government databases and signboards.
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