Fazil Nagar becomes Pawagarh: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath renames another city

Lucknow: One more town, bearing an Islamic name, in Uttar Pradesh would be re-christened by the state government. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while speaking at an event on Tuesday announced, that Fazil Nagar, a small town in Kushinagar district, would be renamed as ‘Pawagarh’.

‘’We have proposed to rename Fazil Nagar as Pawagarh,’’ Adityanath said.

Fazil Nagar, a small town in Kushinagar district, was closely related to both Buddhism and Jainism. According to the followers of Buddhism, Lord Buddha, while on way to Kushinagar from Bihar, had stayed at the residence of one of his disciples at the then ‘Chetigram’ (known as Sathiaon now) for a night.

Lord Buddha then travelled to Kushinagar, a few kilometers away, later where he attained ‘mahaparinirvana’ (death).

The followers of Jainism believe that Lord Mahavira, the 24th and last ‘Tirthankara’, had delivered his last sermon at Fazil Nagar.

The BJP government, since it came to power in 2017, has changed the names of several places, which had Islamic names, in the state and rechristened them after Hindu icons and gods.

A few months ago, Adityanath had declared that Mustafabad in Lakhimpur Kheri district would be renamed as Kabirdham. Earlier the state government had re-christened Faizabad as Ayodhya.

The seers in Ayodhya have also demanded renaming localities with Islamic names. The seers said that there were several localities near the Ram Temple in Ayodhya which had Islamic names such as Quaziana, Urdu Bazar, Kaniganj.

‘’Ayodhya is a town of temples and mutts and therefore the names of the localities must also be according to the Sanatan traditions... Islam has no place in Lord Rama’s town,’’ prominent seer Raju Das had said.