WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE BHOJPALIS!

Initially when the topic sprouted at the Bhopal Sthapna Diwas i was taken aback. I felt my identity as a Bhopali was under a deep threat, the name of my city, my “Bhopal” was going to be changed to some old fashioned 11^th century town name. With this identity crisis I wrote a letter to HT but fortunately it could not be delivered. The two days after that changed my opinion about the whole name changing buzz. With BJP supporting the cause and congress opposing it, the general public should not get so involved in this affair as it another political gimmick happening around us. The celebrations of the reign of raja bhoj completing 1000 years have turned sour because of these stunts of our politicians. It was a time when every person irrespective of religious and political differences should have proudly come to look upto raja bhoj as the greatest king of his time. But things have taken a bad shape as the parties have taken up the issue of renaming the capital.    

What difference does a “J” make to the name of our beautiful city when it proudly celebrates the integrity of Hindus and Muslims for the past 3 centuries ? And also, Why is raja bhoj being painted as a Hindu ruler rather being given the status of a king who created the largest man-made lake of that time at Bhojpur and also the most important source of water in the state capital ? These are certain questions unanswered, well unasked too !

Well my dearest ‘Bhopali’s; by rejecting the proposal of ‘bhojpal’ we are disrespecting a great king and his achievements which are far above narrow confines of religion and political opinions. And for those who love everything about their city including the name like I do, we are never going to be “bhojpalis”, don’t worry!

It’s just the way Bombay has never changed to Mumbai, Bangalore has never changed to Bengaluru, and Bhopal is and will always be Bhopal in our hearts. Leave the dog fight to the politicians and let them decide what they call is the name. Let’s welcome anything coming our way, as once said by the great shakesphere “what’s in thy name”.

I am a 17 year old proud bhopali and will be an equally proud resident of “bhojpal”; as it’s just a name and to me,  my city’s beauty, heritage and ingtegrity is far above ‘what poltician’s call name”

Manas Pratap Singh