Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: BJP legislator Sanjay Kenekar on Tuesday demanded that the name `Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar' written in Urdu script should be removed from the boards at the railway station here.
Last week, the government published a notification to rename Aurangabad railway station as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar station, following the renaming of the city three years ago.
"When the language (Urdu) is not mentioned in the notification, why that language is being written on the board. Only Hindi, English and Marathi are mentioned in the notification. I was shocked to see the name in Urdu," said Kenekar, a member of the Maharashtra legislative council.
"Were the relatives of the railway official working with the Mughals? I called and asked him to make changes. The country has faced many Shahis (rules by Shahs) and Britishers who tried to wipe off our history. Writing the name in Urdu is an attempt to impose Nizami language on us," Kenekar said.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, then Aurangabad, was part of the state of the Nizam of Hyderabad till 1948.
The BJP leader's opposition to the name in Urdu script drew a strong reaction from All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Maharashtra president and former MP Imtiaz Jaleel.
"We were expecting the inauguration of the pit line (maintenance track) here, but they are inaugurating boards. If they (BJP) don't know other languages, it is their problem. Those opposing the Urdu name should note that the Delhi railway station, where their supreme leader sits, also has a Urdu name along with a Punjabi one," said Jaleel.
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