BJP’s renaming drive targets another symbol of India’s Muslim heritage in UP
Lucknow: In yet another move to erase Muslim heritage from India’s public landscape, authorities in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh have approved the renaming of a historic town named after the Mughal emperor Akbar, replacing its centuries-old identity with that of a Hindu religious figure.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet, headed by Hindu monk-turned-Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, approved a proposal to rename Jalalabad in Shahjahanpur district as Parashurampuri, after the Hindu religious figure Parashurama. Jalalabad was established around 1560 and named after Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, widely known as Akbar the Great.
The decision follows years of campaigning by Hindutva organizations demanding that the town’s Mughal-era name be replaced with one reflecting its association with Hindu religious traditions and sites.
The renaming proposal was initiated by the Uttar Pradesh government last year and received approval from India’s Home Ministry, headed by Amit Shah, in August 2025 before being cleared by the state cabinet this week.
The move is the latest in a series of renaming exercises undertaken by BJP governments over the past decade. Several cities, districts, railway stations, roads and other public places associated with Muslim rulers, Persiannames or the Mughal era have been renamed after Hindu saints, kings and religious figures.
Historians and political observers say the campaign reflects the BJP’s Hindutva-driven agenda aimed at reshaping India’s historical narrative by systematically erasing symbols of the country’s Islamic heritage and replacing them with Hindu religious and cultural identities.
