'Nothing Unlawful Will Happen In Ayodhya'

Rita Bahuguna Joshi minister for tourism, and women and child welfare, Uttar Pradesh.

Striding into the hall, Rita Bahuguna Joshi looked and sounded like the consummate politician that she is. The tourism and women and child welfare minister of Uttar Pradesh had been invited to address THE WEEK at its annual conference in Lucknow on November 30. Taking the stage with an energy that belied her age, Joshi, 69, spoke on a range of issues, including lynching, development and politics, before a lively interaction with the gathered journalists. Excerpts:

Why was the name of Allahabad changed to Prayagraj?

In the past two decades, so many names have been changed. Why were voices not raised then? Madras became Chennai, Bangalore became Bengaluru, Bombay became Mumbai, Calcutta became Kolkata.

As for Allahabad, wherever there is a confluence of rivers, it is called prayag. There are five prayags in Uttarakhand, the sixth is in Allahabad. About 30 years back, when a train connecting Allahabad to Delhi was started, it was called the Prayagraj Express. It is known as Prayagraj because it is the king of all the prayags. The biggest importance of Allahabad is in that prayag. It is known as the river of salvation and 14 to 15 crore people visit it every five or six years. And every year, about a crore people take a dip there. So, it was the sentiment of the people there that it should be named Prayagraj. I am against the random changing of names, but in Uttar Pradesh, previous governments changed names of places to something that had nothing to do with the individuals of that area.

The British changed nearly all the names, and if we can go back to some of the names, I do not think it is a big issue.

Specifically about Allahabad, we have always called one section [of the city] Prayag. We have a station called Prayag near [Allahabad University]. So, I think it is more an issue of the confluence being there and the sanctity of the river.