The central administration is believed to be in the process of renaming the Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium after the country’s first home minister, official sources said on Tuesday.
The disclosure comes days after the first lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir UT, GC Murmu, was administered the oath of office in Srinagar’s Raj Bhawan.
According to well placed sources, the Jammu and Kashmir administration is in the process of preparing new nameplates and hoardings after Sardar Vallahbhai Patel. “These will be installed in and around the stadium,” sources said.
Sources said the announcement in this regard will be made by the central leadership and dates are being finalised. “It (announcement) is likely to be made on December 15 which also marks the death anniversary of Patel,” sources said.
Meanwhile, according to reports, the administration is also mulling to rename some significant places in the name of National Conference’s late founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah who was known as “Sher-e-Kashmir”—the Lion of Kashmir.
In Srinagar, there are scores of places that are in the name of Sher-e-Kashmir. Sources revealed that Centre is planning to change the names of all important places in Srinagar that are in the name of Sher-e-Kashmir or somebody else, a local news agency reported.
“All these places or institutions will be re-named after Sardar Valabhai Patel and some other BJP founders like Murarji Desai etc. Discussion in this regard is on and final call is expected by November 15,” reports said.
A senior BJP leader in Srinagar told the agency that the name changing was the long demand of the BJP’s Kashmir unit and all the institutions or significant places should be renamed after Patel.
“Some parties in Kashmir were of the belief that these places were their personal properties as they were in the name of their ancestors.
“To teach them a lesson, we have proposed name of Sardar Valabhai Patel for all these important institutions and places in Jammu as well as in Srinagar,” he said. “Deliberations are on over the issue and we are hopeful that final call will be taken soon.”
Kashmir continues to reel under internet shutdown which has, according to some reports, resulted in losses worth Rs 10,000 crore for the businesses in the Valley. Although the JK’s information department has opened a media facilitation centre, journalists are finding it difficult to operate freely.
The Valley has remained under lockdown for nearly three months since the abrogation of the Article 370 by the BJP-led Centre and a sweeping crackdown on not just militants but even mainstream parties like National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party with former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti under detention.
An array of political leaders, businessmen, lawyers, activists and others have also been confined to Centaur Hotel on the banks of Dal Lake which has been declared as a sub-jail by the state administration.
Recently, four leaders including former lawmakers were released from the sub jail.
The government has not made any announcement yet on the charges under which most of the mainstream leaders and others have been arrested, and whether and when they will be released, although the release of four leaders seemed to have paved way for restoration of political process in the state.
Relatives of Omar and Mehbooba have been allowed to meet the leaders at Hari Niwas Palace and a guest house at Cheshma Shahi where the two leaders are being held respectively. Leaders of NC also met the party chief Dr Farooq Abdullah who has been held under the Public Safety Act.
Earlier, the daughter of Mehbooba, Iltija Mufti, had written to the home minister that she was fearing for her life and that she was being denied permission to meet her mother who she said has been confined to ‘one room’. She however later met her mother and has been lately sending out tweets from her mother’s account.