Minister of state (independent charge) Dharam Singh Saini demanded from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to change the name of Sheikhul Hind Maulana Abdul Hasan Medical College at Saharanpur and name it after some other icon.
Earlier in March last year, BJP MlA Brijesh Singh from Deoband seat in Saharanpur had demanded the changing of name of Deoband township to Debvrind. The legislator argued that Deoband should be known for its historical association with Mahabharata and not the Islamic seminary of Darul Uloom Deoband. Singh had said that Deoband was quite sacred for Hindus because of its historical association with Mahabharata. Pandavas visited Deoband while in exile and living incognito. Their visit to the town also led to the foundation of a famous temple there.
“The historical association of Deoband with Mahabharata needs to be highlighted and reinforced in public memory. It would be unfair if Deoband is known and talked about only as a place where Darul Uloom Deoband is located,” Singh argued.
Saini, who was cabinet minister during Bahujan Samaj Party regime (2007-12), wrote to the Chief Minister saying that the college was named after BSP founder Kanshi Ram but the previous Akhilesh Yadav led SP government renamed it after prominent Deobandi Muslim cleric Maulana Abdul Hasan.
“Deep resentment prevails among the locals over the renaimg of the medical college. There is no justification for such a long name of medical college and it is inconvenient for locals to spell the present name. The Samajwadi Party regime did it to appease a particular community,’’ said the minister.
Saini further said, “It has been a long standing demand of local people to change the name of the medical college and name it after some iconic personalility who has contributed in the social or political field.”